AIM:To establish HPLC fingerprint for controlling the quality of Rubus chingii Hu. METHODS: Analysis was performed on Alltech C_(18) column(250 mm?4.6 mm,5 ?m)with a mixture of acetonitrile and water as mobile phase in gradient mode,flow rate was 1.0 mL/min,wavelength at 211 nm. RESULTS: There were 15 common peaks in the HPLC fingerprints of Rubus chingii Hu.The RSD of precision and reproducibility lay within 5%. CONCLUSION: The method has good sensitivity and repeatability.This chromatographic fingerprint method can be used to controll the quality of Rubus chingii Hu.

Objective To assess the analytical performance of three sensitive cardiac troponin Ⅰ assays and compare the clinical application to provide help in choosing the detection method for clinical laboratory. Methods A total of 474 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy subjects and a total of 112 serum samples were collected from patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of acute myocardial infarction. The functional sensitivities of three assays from Abbott, Beckman-Coulter and Ortho were determined ( CV = 10% ). The reference ranges have been established. The analytic performance was compared according to the assessment mode described by Apple. The relationship was compared among the different assays. The preliminary clinical application value for different detection methods has been evaluated and validated with self-established reference ranges. Results The functional sensitivities ( CV = 10% ) of the cTnI assays for Abbott, Beckman-Coulter and Ortho were 0. 030, 0. 04 and 0. 013 μg/L, respectively.The 99th percentiles of cTnI in healthy volunteers were 0. 021, 0. 02 and 0. 026 μg/L respectively. The analytical data of ROC curve showed that the area under curve (AUC) of the cTnI assays for Abbott,Beckman-Coulter and Ortho for diagnosis of AMI was 0. 852,0. 909 and 0. 910,respectively. There was no statistical difference between any two methods(Z1 = 1.18 ,Z2 = 1.21 ,Z3 =0. 026,all P ＞0. 05). There were good consistency between the 99th percentile obtained from our laboratory and suggested by manufacturers (Kappa value were 1. 000, 0. 730 and 0. 893 respectively, all P ＜ 0. 01 ). Conclusions The analytical performance of two cTnl assays is "clinical accepted" ,the other one is accepted according to guideline. All of them could detect cTnI in apparently healthy subjects. There exist differences among three assays, but their diagnostic characteristics for AMI are not significantly different.

Objective To assess the analytical performance of hs-cTnT and biological variations in healthy population as well as establish hs-cTnT reference intervals. Methods The serum samples from 100 acute myocardial infraction patients and 474 apparently healthy subjects were collected. The functional sensitivity,within- and between-run imprecision were determined. The hs-cTnT assay and con-cTnT assay were evaluated. The serum hs-cTnT levels were detected in apparently healthy subjects to establish reference intervals. Moreover,the long-term and short-term biological variations for hs-cTnT in healthy volunteers were assessed. Results The functional sensitivity of hs-cTnT was 0. 005 μg/L. The within- and between-run precision for lower level control(0. 014 μg/L) and higher level control(2. 500 μg/L) was 2. 97% vs 3. 64%and 0. 66% vs 1.01% ,respectively. The correlation between hs-cTnT assay and con-cTnT assay was good ( R2 =0. 972 ,P ＜0. 01 ). The 99th percentile in apparently healthy subjects was 0. 003 μg/L for women less than60 years, 0.008 μg/L for men less than 60 years, 0.015 μg/L for women above 60 years and 0. 021 μg/L for men above 60 years. The CVa, CVi, CVg and CVt of short-term biological variations in detecting hs-cTnT from 22 apparently healthy subjects were 3.8%, 4. 8%, 49.9% and 58.5%,respectively. The CVa,CVi ,CVg and CVt of long-term biological variations were 5. 3% ,6. 4% ,56. 6% and 68. 3% respectively. Conclusions The analytical performance of the hs-cTnT is better than con-cTnT assay,achieving acceptable level according to guideline. Our experimental result could provide the basis for the new high sensitivity cTnT assay in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.

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Objective To evaluate the clinical application of hs-cTnT in diagnosis of AMI. Methods The detectable rates of hs-cTnT and con-cTnT from 147 AMI ( including 122 NSTEMI )patients on immediate admission were compared. The related biological markers including hs-cTnT, con-cTnT, CKMB mass and MYO were determined for all samples from 481 patients with chest pain on immediate admission and 4 h, 12 h ,20 h and 28 h after admission. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of all markers. The change rates of hs-cTnT within 4 hours from AMI group, non-AMI heart disease group, AMI related high risk disease group and control group were compared with serial detection. Results The detection rates of hs-cTnT for AMI and NSTEMI patients were 90. 3% and 91.0%, and both were significantly higher than the rates of con-cTnT, which were 61.9% and 60. 6% (x2 =23.08,18. 64,all P＜0. 01 ). Among different makers obtained from different collecting times,hs-cTnT had the highest detection rate. For admission cases, the area under curve of hs-cTnT, con-cTnT,CKMB mass and MYO were 0.935, 0.851, 0.827 and 0.769 respectively, and the differences have statistical significance(Z1 = 3. 13, Z2 = 4. 46, Z3 = 5.62, all P ＜ 0. 05 ). Besides, there was a significant difference between the change rate of hs-cTnT of AMI and other groups (x2=166.09,P＜0. 01).Conclusions In comparison with con-cTnT, hs-cTnT could provide reliable results for earlier diagnosis of AMI, and could also reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of NSTEMI. Combining single test of hs-cTnT with serial tests was superior to using cut-off value alone in diagnosis. Moreover, it could be helpful to distinguish non-AMI patients from true AMI patients due to the improved detection sensitivity. Because of its good diagnostic performance, hs-cTnT test may limit the application value of some other "early markers".

Objective To investigate the correlation of plasma matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3)levels and MMP-3 Lys45Glu (rs679620) polyrnorphism with ischemic stroke and its TOAST subtypes.Methods The patients with large artery atherosclerotic stroke (LAA) and small artery occlusion stroke (SAO)according to TOAST etiological typing (ischemic stroke group) and healthy subjects (control group) were enrolled.The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect plasma MMP-3 level.The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to detect the genotypes of MMP-3 Lys45Glu.Results A total of 233 patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled,in which 162 were LAA and 71 were SAO; 200 healthy subjects were taken as controls.The plasma MMP-3 level in the ischernic stroke group was significantly higher than that in the control goup (253.99 ± 75.02 ng/ml vs.196.38 ± 78.17 ng/ml;t =7.813,P=0.000).The plasma MMP-3 level in the LAA group (262.81 ±69.23 ng/ml) was significantly higher than those in thegroups of SAO (233.85 ± 83.90 ng/ml,P =0.008) and control (P =0.000),and the plasma MMP-3 level in the SAO was also significantly higher than that in the control group (P =0.000).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the increased serum MMP-3 level was an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke (odds ratio [OR] 1.012,95％ confidence interval [CI] 1.008-1.015; P =0.000).There was no significant difference in the frequencies of genotype (x2 =2.085,P =0.353) and allele (x2 =2.29,P =0.130) of MMP-3 Lys45Glu between the ischemic stroke group and the control group.However,there were significant difference in MMP-3 Lys45Glu genotype frequencies among.the groups of LAA,SAO and control (x2 =10.39,P=0.034).The AA + GA genotype frequency in the LAA group was significant higher than those in the groups of SAO (65.4％ vs.49.3％ ;x2 =5.375,P =0.020) and control (65.4％ vs.54.0％ ;x2 =4.84,P =0.028).There was no significant difference in the allele frequencies among the groups of LAA,SAO and control (x2 =3.887,P =0.143).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that MMP-3 Lys45Glu polymorphism was an independent risk factor for LAA (OR 1.783,95％ CI 1.183-2.688; P =0.006).The plasma MMP-3 level in patients with the genotypes AA (n =73),GA (n =176) and GG (n =184)were 235.70 ± 70.85 ng/ml,(244.20 ± 85.90 ng/ml and 207.98 ± 77.61 ng/ml.There were significant difference in the plasma MMP-3 levels among the patients with the genotypes AA,GA and GG (F=9.682,P =0.000).The plasma MMP-3 level in the patients with the genotype AA + GA was significantly higher than that in patients with genotype GG (241.71 ± 81.73 ng/ml vs.207.98 ± 77.61 ng/ml; t =4.336,P =0.000).Conclusions The plasma MMP-3 level increased in patients with LAA or SAO,especially in the patients with LAA.The MMP-3 Lys45Glu polymorphism might be associated with the plasma MMP-3 level and LAA.

Objective:To investigate difficult-to-treat sites in patients with psoriasis receiving biological therapy.Methods:Clinical data were retrospectively collected from 73 adult patients with psoriasis in the database of Psoriasis Center, National Clinical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases from June 2020 to September 2021, who had received sufficient and standardized treatment with biological agents for ≥ 24 weeks, and were still treated with biological agents at the time of enrolment into this study with the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score being 1 - 5 at the time of enrolment into the database of Psoriasis Center. Distribution of psoriatic lesions resistant to biological therapy were analyzed, and differences in refractory sites were compared between different biologics. Chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test was used to analyze differences in the anatomical distribution of residual skin lesions after treatment with different biologics, McNemar test to compare the anatomical distribution of skin lesions before and after biological therapy, and Kruskal-Wallis H test to analyze the association between PASI scores for residual skin lesions and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) scores. Results:After ≥ 24 weeks of sufficient and standardized biological therapy in the 73 patients, refractory skin lesions mostly involved the lower limbs (46 cases, 63.01%) , followed by the scalp (36 cases, 49.32%) and upper limbs (27 cases, 36.99%) ; proportions of patients with residual skin lesions on the face and neck, trunk, upper limbs, lower limbs, hands and feet significantly decreased after biological therapy compared with those before treatment (paired χ2 = 5.14, 7.69, 9.90, 4.17 and 6.13, P = 0.016, 0.003, 0.001, 0.031 and 0.008, respectively) , while there was no significant difference in the proportions of patients with skin lesions on the scalp and genital areas before and after treatment (both P > 0.05) . No significant difference in the anatomical distribution of residual skin lesions was observed between the 13 patients receiving treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (adalimumab, infliximab, or tumor necrosis factor receptor-antibody fusion protein) and 59 receiving treatment with interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitors (secukinumab or ixekizumab) (all P > 0.05) . There was no significant difference in the anatomical distribution of residual skin lesions in the 13 patients before and after the treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (all P > 0.05) ; in the 59 patients treated with IL-17 inhibitors, the proportions of patients with residual skin lesions on the trunk, upper limbs, hands and feet significantly decreased after treatment (paired χ2 = 4.90, 9.09 and 7.11, P = 0.021, 0.001 and 0.004, respectively) , while there was no significant difference in the distribution of skin lesions on the scalp, face and neck, lower limbs and genital area before and after treatment (all P > 0.05) . Among the 73 patients, the PASI scores for lesions on the upper and lower limbs and the total PASI scores were all associated with the DLQI scores ( H = 7.52, 12.61, 6.75, respectively, all P < 0.05) , and were significantly higher in the patients with DLQI scores of > 10 points than in those with DLQI scores of ≤ 5 points (all P < 0.05) . Conclusions:Biological therapy-resistant psoriatic lesions were mostly located on the scalp, and refractory skin lesions mostly involved the lower limbs, scalp and upper limbs. No significant difference in the anatomical distribution of residual skin lesions was observed between patients treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and IL-17 inhibitors, but IL-17 inhibitors may result in lesion clearance at more anatomical sites compared with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors.

OBJECTIVE To assess the performance of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) based on massive parallel sequencing. METHODS A total of 10 275 maternal blood samples were collected. Fetal chromosomal aneuploides were subjected to low coverage whole genome sequencing. Patients with high risks received further prenatal diagnosis. The outcome of all patients were followed up. RESULTS High-throughput sequencing detected 72 pregnancies with fetal autosomal chromosomal aneuploidy, including 57 cases of trisomy 21, 14 cases of trisomy 18, and 1 case of trisomy 13. The positive predictive value for trisomies 21 and 18 were 98.25% and 91.67%, respectively. Comparing its performance in intermediate or high risk pregnancies, advanced maternal age pregnancies and volunteering to test pregnancies, the positive predictive value were 100%, 95%, 90% and 50%, respectively. The follow up result was only 1 case of 21 trisomy false negative with high risk. For the 56 cases of trisomy 21, the high risk group accounted for 55%, advanced maternal age accounted for 29%, the intermediate risk referred to 14%, the volunteering to test group accounted for 2%. CONCLUSION The performance of NIPT for trisomies 21, 18 and 13 was satisfactory. The method can be used for women with advanced gestational age. NIPT has offered an ideal secondary screening method for those with an intermediate or high risk, and can reduce the rate of birth defects.

Objective: To describe the status of cognition about colorectal cancer and the screening and its relevant factors among first degree relatives of hereditary colorectal cancer patients in Guangzhou. Methods: Totally 274 subjects were investigated by a self-designed demographic questionnaire and the Chinese version of Cognitive Questionnaire for Colorectal Cancer and were analyzed by chisquare test, rank sum test and logistic regressive. Results: 60.2% (165/274) cases had a high level of cognition about colorectal cancer, 23.7% (65/274) had middle level of cognition about colorectal cancer and 16.0% (44/274) had a low level of cognition about colorectal cancer. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, sex, degree of education, marital status, family income, medical insurance and the number of cancer patients in his family were related factors (P<0.05). People who were young, female, highly educated, high family income, single, public/urban health insurance, commercial insurance and with more than 4 relatives suffering from colorectal cancer have higher cognitive level. Conclusions The level of cognition about colorectal cancer among first degree relatives of hereditary colorectal cancer patients was a little high. Medical staff should pay attention to relevant factors of health belief in subjects and develop targeted intervention to improve the level of cognition among these subjects and to promote their screening behavior.

OBJECTIVES: The incidence of infertility is increasing, more than 30% of them having related abnormal tubal patency. Four-dimensional (4D) hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography (HyCoSy) overcomes the shortcomings of 3D HyCoSy in the diagnosis of tubal patency, showing high specificity and accuracy. In addition, 4D HyCoSy discards iodine allergy and X-ray radiation and possesses easy-operating, contributing to good acceptance in clinical practice. However, there is no research to explore the imaging standards related to the possibility of natural pregnancy after 4D HyCoSy. If a predictive model of postoperative natural pregnancy was established using the analysis of clinical data combined with imaging characteristics of 4D HyCoSy of patients with tubal factor infertility, clinical decision-making can be wisely guided in the future. This study aims to establish a predictive model of natural pregnancy after 4D HyCoSy based on clinical data and imaging characteristics of patients with tubal factor in fertility. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted for patients who were diagnosed with tubal factor infertility in Hunan Guangxiu Hospital from February 2017 to May 2018. The patients ought to possess complete 4D HyCoSy imaging data and at least one-side-unobstructed fallopian tube. General clinical data and imaging data were collected. Pregnancy outcome was followed up till 3 months after 4D HyCoSy. According to pregnancy outcome, patients were divided into a pregnancy group and a non-pregnancy group. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between various variables and natural pregnancy after 4D HyCoSy. The variables with significant difference (P<0.05) in single-factor logistic regression were included in the natural pregnancy probability prediction model. The classification accuracy was further verified with 10-fold cross-validation. RESULTS: A total of 1 085 patients with clinically suspected tubal factor infertility who met the requirements and followed the doctors' prescription were collected. Clinical characteristics (age and duration of infertility) and 4D HyCoSy imaging characteristics (thickness of endometrium from the 3rd to the 7th day after the end of menstruation, visualization of the left fallopian tube, the diffusion of contrast agent around the left ovary, and the diffusion of contrast agent around the right ovary) were independent predictors for natural pregnancy 3 months after 4D HyCoSy. A natural pregnancy probability prediction model was established with the area under the curve (AUC) verified by the 10-fold cross-validation all greater than 0.75, and the best AUC was 0.868. The Q value obtained by the prediction model was the probability of natural pregnancy, and the cutoff value was 0.5. When the Q value was greater than 0.5, it was recommended to attempt natural pregnancy for 3 months, and when the Q value was less than 0.5, in vitro fertilization was adviced. CONCLUSIONS A predictive model for the evaluating probability of natural pregnancy in women with tubal factor infertility after 4D HyCoSy is successfully established based on the analysis for clinical data and imaging characteristics. This model shows a great potential in assisting clinical decision making.
Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Contrast Media ; Retrospective Studies