BACKGROUND: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP), a rare and recurrent autoinflammatory disease, imposes a substantial burden on patients and society. Awareness of GPP in China remains limited. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey, conducted between September 2021 and May 2023 across 14 hospitals in China, included GPP patients of all ages and disease phases. Data collected encompassed demographics, clinical characteristics, economic impact, disease severity, quality of life, and treatment-related complications. Risk factors for GPP recurrence were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 127 patients (female/male ratio = 1.35:1), the mean age of disease onset was 25 years (1st quartile [Q1]-3rd quartile [Q3]: 11-44 years); 29.2% had experienced GPP for more than 10 years. Recurrence occurred in 75.6% of patients, and nearly half reported no identifiable triggers. Younger age at disease onset ( P  = 0.021) and transitioning to plaque psoriasis ( P  = 0.022) were associated with higher recurrence rates. The median diagnostic delay was 8 months (Q1-Q3: 2-41 months), and 32.3% of patients reported misdiagnoses. Comorbidities were present in 53.5% of patients, whereas 51.1% experienced systemic complications during treatment. Depression and anxiety affected 84.5% and 95.6% of patients, respectively. During GPP flares, the median Dermatology Life Quality Index score was 19.0 (Q1-Q3: 13.0-23.5). This score showed significant differences between patients with and without systemic symptoms; it demonstrated correlations with both depression and anxiety scores. Treatment costs caused financial hardship in 55.9% of patients, underscoring the burden associated with GPP. CONCLUSIONS The substantial disease and economic burdens among Chinese GPP patients warrant increased attention. Patients with early onset disease and those transitioning to plaque psoriasis require targeted interventions to mitigate the high recurrence risk.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Psoriasis/pathology* ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Adolescent ; Child ; Young Adult ; Quality of Life ; Middle Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; East Asian People

Objective: To understand current situation epidemiology and associated factors of suicidal ideation among high school students in Yixing, so as to provide basis for targeted intervention. Methods: From March to May 2019, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 12 799 students from 3 junior high schools and 4 senior high schools in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, using a stratified cluster random sampling method. Latent profile analysis was used to classify suicidal ideation among high school students, the chi square test was used to compare the differences in suicidal ideation among different characteristics of students, multiple Logistic regression was used to analyze influencing factors, a risk predictive nomogram model was constructed and then verified. Results: Three latent classes of suicidal ideation among high school students was divided into three categories were observed: none or mild, moderate, and severe. Among them, 3 034 (23.7%) had moderate suicidal ideation and 753 (5.9%) had severe suicidal ideation. The Logistic regression results showed that gender was female, academic performance was lower midrange, smoking, drinking, popularity with classmates(less popular and unpopularity), family member relationships(general/occasional contradictions/contradictions), trust in others(more trusted/less trusted/less trusted at all), past or current relationships, physical bullying, relationship bullying, verbal bullying, and sexual bullying were the influencing factors for severe suicidal ideation among students ( OR =3.27； 2.18 ；1.63；1.72；2.66, 6.05；3.00,3.29, 6.38；1.71, 6.04, 12.48； 2.50； 1.59； 2.16； 1.45； 1.63, P <0.05). The nomogram prediction model had good discrimination. Conclusions Suicide ideation is influenced by multiple factors. Family and peer situations, as well as being bullied, are all related to the degree the severity of suicidal ideation. Efforts can be made to improve students family and interpersonal relationships, control bullying, then reduce their suicidal ideation which might help prevent suicide ideation among students.

Objective To study the effective fraction and mechanism of Lycium barbarum leaves on improving learning and memory ability of subacute aging mice induced by D-galactose injection.Methods The model of subacute aging mice was developed by injection of D-galactose subcutaneously,and different extracts of Lycium barbarum leaves were prepared.The effects of the extracts of Lycium barbarum leaves on the learning and memory ability of model mice were evaluated by Y maze experiment and new object recognition experiment.The pathomorphological changes of hippocampus in mice were observed by hematoxylin-eosin and Nissl staining.The levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),nerve growth factor(NGF),glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1β(IL-1β),interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-10(IL-10)in hippocampus of mice were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD)and the contents of glutathione(GSH)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in hippocampus of mice were detected by related assay kits.Detection of apoptosis in the hippocampal region of mouse brain tissue using the TUNEL method.Western blotting analysis was used to detect the expressions of antioxidant proteins Nrf2,HO-1 and apoptotic proteins Caspase-3,Caspase-9 in hippocampus of mice.Results The water extraction part and 80%alcohol precipitation supernatant part of Lycium barbarum leaves significantly improved the learning and memory ability of model mice,improved the pathological damage of hippocampus in mice,increased the number of Nissl bodies in hippocampus of mice,and promoted the expression of neurotrophic factors BDNF,NGF and GDNF,and promoted the expression of neurotrophic factors BDNF,NGF and GDNF.Pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α,IL-1β and IFN-γ expression declines while anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 expression rises.The activity of SOD and the expression of GSH were increased,and the expression of MDA was decreased.Increase the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 antioxidant proteins;reduce the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 apoptosis pathway proteins.Inhibition of apoptosis in the hippocampal region of mouse brain tissue using a model.Conclusion The water extracts and 80%alcohol precipitation supernatant extracts of Lycium barbarum leaves are the effective fractions of Lycium barbarum leaves to improve the learning and memory ability of D-galactose-induced subacute aging mice,and its mechanism might be related to the inhibition of neuronal apoptosis caused by oxidative stress and inflammation.

【Objective】 To study the molecular mechanism of 95 samples of serological ABO subtypes. 【Methods】 A total of 95 samples with discrepancy between forward and reverse blood grouping were subjected to serological confirmation, and genotyped by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). For those subtype alleles could not be detected by PCR-SSP, ABO gene exon 1-7 sequencing and gene single strand sequencing were performed successively to determine the mutation site and the gene location. 【Results】 A total of 34 ABO alleles were detected in 95 samples. Five common ABO alleles (ABO^*A1.01, ABO^*A1.02, ABO^*B.01, ABO^*O.01.01 and ABO^*O.01.02) and 29 rare ABO alleles were identified, including 16 named alleles by ISBT (ABO^*A2.01, ABO^*A2.05, ABO^*A2.13, ABO^*A3.07, ABO^*AW.37, ABO^*AEL.05, ABO^*B3.01, ABO^*B3.05, ABO^*BW.03, ABO^*BW.07, ABO^*BW.27, ABO^*BEL.03, ABO^*cisAB.01, ABO^*cisAB.05, ABO^*BA.02, ABO^*BA.04) and 5 named alleles by dbRBC(A223, B309, Bw37, Bel09, Bw40)and eight unnamed alleles [ABO^*B.01+ 978C>A, ABO^*A1.02+ 248A>T, ABO^*B.01+ 125dupT, ABO^*B.01+ (98+ 1G>A), ABO^*A1.02/ABO^*B.01+ 1A>G, ABO^*A1.02/ABO^*O.01.01+ 28G>T, ABO^*A1.02/ABO^*B.01+ 538C>T, ABO^*A1.02/ABO^*O.01.01+ 797insT] .The last four samples could not be verified by single strand because of insufficient samples. In 95 samples, 76 samples (21 named alleles of ISBT and dbRBC) were identified by PCR-SSP, and the remaining 19 samples were identified by exon 1-7 sequencing of ABO gene, of which 8 were identified as unnamed alleles, and the remaining 11 samples were not identified as subtype alleles. 【Conclusion】 The molecular genetic mechanism of 95 serological ABO subtypes was revealed, and 8 rare novel alleles were identified. The detection of ambiguous blood groups is influenced by factors such as patient pathology and physiology, therefore the combination of serological testing and genetic testing is suggested for the identification of ABO subtype.

Objective To investigate the risk factors associated with necrosis in interstitial oedematous pancreatitis(IOP)and to develop a nomogram model for the early prediction of necrosis in IOP.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 306 patients diagnosed with IOP.Patients were stratified into necrosis and edema groups based on the presence or absence of pancreatic necrosis through follow-up CT-enhanced examinations.Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify independent predictive factors for necrosis in IOP.Subsequently,a nomogram model was developed,and its discriminative ability,accuracy,and practicality were assessed through receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,calibration curve,and decision curve analysis(DCA).Results Balthazar computed tomography severity index(CTSI),gender,lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),and triglyceride(TG)were finally identified as four independent predictors for constructing the nomogram model.The area under the curve(AUC)of the nomogram model was 0.800[95％confidence interval(CI)0.731-0.869].The calibration curve indicated good consistency between the predicted probabil-ity and the actual probability of necrosis in IOP(P=0.737).DCA suggested high practicality of the nomogram model within the threshold probability range of 3％to 66％and 75％to 96％.Conclusion The nomogram model based on Balthazar CTSI,gender,LDH,and TG demonstrates good efficacy in early prediction of necrosis in IOP.

Aim To design and synthesize a series of phenylacetamide derivatives with different substituted phenylacetic acid as raw materials,and to investigate the protective effects of the compound on the damage of pancreatic β cells induced by palmitate acid(PA).Methods Min6 cells were cultured and divided into B blank control group,PA treatment group and PA+compounds group.The viability of Min6 cells was de-tected by CCK-8.The protein expressions of TXNIP and NLRP3 were observed by Western blot.MDA con-tent and SOD activity were detected by MDA and SOD kit.The insulin secretion of Min6 islet cells was meas-ured with insulin ELISA kit.Results A total of 10 phenylacetamide derivatives were designed and synthe-sized.Their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR and ESI-MS.Pharmacological activity study showed that most of the compounds had protective effects on islet βcells,among which LY-6 and LY-8 had stronger pro-tective effects than PA model group,with the cell via-bility of 61.4％,and LY-6 had the highest cell activi-ty,reaching to 104.9％.Compared with PA group,the protein expression of TXNIP and NLRP3 decreased in LY-6 and LY-8 groups,MDA content decreased and SOD activity increased,and insulin secretion of Min6 cell increased.Conclusions LY-6 and LY-8 inhibit TXNIP expression and decrease the activation of NL-RP3 inflammasome,and decrease the production of MDA and increase SOD activity,and thus reducing is-let β cells apoptosis and increasing insulin secretion.Therefore,the compound LY-6 could serve as a poten-tial anti-diabetic new chemical entity.

Background/Aims: Despite the high efficacy of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), approximately 1–3% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients fail to achieve a sustained virological response. We conducted a nationwide study to investigate risk factors associated with DAA treatment failure. Machine-learning algorithms have been applied to discriminate subjects who may fail to respond to DAA therapy. Methods: We analyzed the Taiwan HCV Registry Program database to explore predictors of DAA failure in HCV patients. Fifty-five host and virological features were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and artificial neural network. The primary outcome was undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results: The training (n=23,955) and validation (n=10,346) datasets had similar baseline demographics, with an overall DAA failure rate of 1.6% (n=538). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, poor DAA adherence, and higher hemoglobin A1c were significantly associated with virological failure. XGBoost outperformed the other algorithms and logistic regression models, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.000 in the training dataset and 0.803 in the validation dataset. The top five predictors of treatment failure were HCV RNA, body mass index, α-fetoprotein, platelets, and FIB-4 index. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the XGBoost model (cutoff value=0.5) were 99.5%, 69.7%, 99.9%, 97.4%, and 99.5%, respectively, for the entire dataset. Conclusions Machine learning algorithms effectively provide risk stratification for DAA failure and additional information on the factors associated with DAA failure.

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who failed antiviral therapy are at increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the potential role of metformin and statins, medications for diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperlipidemia (HLP), in reducing HCC risk among these patients. Methods: We included CHC patients from the T-COACH study who failed antiviral therapy. We tracked the onset of HCC 1.5 years post-therapy by linking to Taiwan’s cancer registry data from 2003 to 2019. We accounted for death and liver transplantation as competing risks and employed Gray’s cumulative incidence and Cox subdistribution hazards models to analyze HCC development. Results: Out of 2,779 patients, 480 (17.3%) developed HCC post-therapy. DM patients not using metformin had a 51% increased risk of HCC compared to non-DM patients, while HLP patients on statins had a 50% reduced risk compared to those without HLP. The 5-year HCC incidence was significantly higher for metformin non-users (16.5%) versus non-DM patients (11.3%; adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio [aSHR]=1.51; P=0.007) and metformin users (3.1%; aSHR=1.59; P=0.022). Statin use in HLP patients correlated with a lower HCC risk (3.8%) compared to non-HLP patients (12.5%; aSHR=0.50; P<0.001). Notably, the increased HCC risk associated with non-use of metformin was primarily seen in non-cirrhotic patients, whereas statins decreased HCC risk in both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. Conclusions Metformin and statins may have a chemopreventive effect against HCC in CHC patients who failed antiviral therapy. These results support the need for personalized preventive strategies in managing HCC risk.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic systemic autoimmune disease, is characterized by synovitis and progressive damage to the bone and cartilage of the joints, leading to disability and reduced quality of life. This study was a randomized clinical trial comparing the outcomes between withdrawal and dose reduction of tofacitinib in patients with RA who achieved sustained disease control. METHODS: The study was designed as a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Eligible patients who were taking tofacitinib (5 mg twice daily) and had achieved sustained RA remission or low disease activity (disease activity score in 28 joints [DAS28] ≤3.2) for at least 3 months were enrolled at six centers in Shanghai, China. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to one of three treatment groups: continuation of tofacitinib (5 mg twice daily); reduction in tofacitinib dose (5 mg daily); and withdrawal of tofacitinib. Efficacy and safety were assessed up to 6 months. RESULTS: Overall, 122 eligible patients were enrolled, with 41 in the continuation group, 42 in the dose-reduction group, and 39 in the withdrawal group. After 6 months, the percentage of patients with a DAS28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of <3.2 was significantly lower in the withdrawal group than that in the reduction and continuation groups (20.5%, 64.3%, and 95.1%, respectively; P  < 0.0001 for both comparisons). The average flare-free time was 5.8 months for the continuation group, 4.7 months for the dose reduction group, and 2.4 months for the withdrawal group. CONCLUSION: Withdrawal of tofacitinib in patients with RA with stable disease control resulted in a rapid and significant loss of efficacy, while standard or reduced doses of tofacitinib maintained a favorable state. TRIAL REGISTRATION Chictr.org, ChiCTR2000039799.
Humans ; Quality of Life ; China ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Piperidines/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome ; Antirheumatic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Pyrroles/therapeutic use*

There is growing evidence that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with increased risks of psychiatric sequelae. Depression, anxiety, cognitive impairments, sleep disturbance, and fatigue during and after the acute phase of COVID-19 are prevalent, long-lasting, and exerting negative consequences on well-being and imposing a huge burden on healthcare systems and society. This current review presented timely updates of clinical research findings, particularly focusing on the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the neuropsychiatric sequelae, and identified potential key targets for developing effective treatment strategies for long COVID. In addition, we introduced the Formosa Long COVID Multicenter Study (FOCuS), which aims to apply the inflammation theory to the pathogenesis and the psychosocial and nutrition treatments of post-COVID depression and anxiety.