OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, curative effect and prognostic factors of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) complicated with light chain myocardial amyloidosis (AL-CA). METHODS: The data of 38 patients diagnosed with MM complicated with AL-CA in our hospital from January 2018 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, and the data were comprehensively screened by multiple methods such as positive two-dimensional spot tracking echocardiography (2D-STE). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression models were used to screen for independent prognostic factors. RESULTS: Among the 38 MM patients with AL-CA, 23 were male and 15 were female, with a median age of 60(50,75) years. The 1-year survival rate was 71.05%. Patients who underwent transplantation had significantly better survival outcomes than those who did not (P < 0.01). Additionally, the median survival time of patients with all-negative FISH results at the first visit was statistically different compared to patients with other mutations (P < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that all negative FISH results at the first visit and the absence of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) were not independent risk factor for the prognosis of patients with MM and AL-CA (P >0.05). CONCLUSION ASCT may improve the prognosis of MM patients with AL-CA, and negative FISH results may indicate poor prognosis, but the results still need to be verified by larger samples.
Humans ; Multiple Myeloma/complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Aged ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Amyloidosis/complications* ; Survival Rate ; Proportional Hazards Models

Objective： To analyze the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of upper urinary tract calculi patients combined with mild and moderate benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) after ureteral stent implantation. Methods： One hundred and six BPH patients who were hospitalized for upper urinary tract calculi and had ureteral stents retained from January 2019 to December 2022 were selected and divided into 2 weeks group and 4 weeks group according to the time of removal of ureteral stents after surgery. Their general clinical data were analyzed and compared. International Prostatic Symptom Scale (IPSS), postoperative ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire (USSQ), and incidence of adverse events after ureteral stent removal were recorded before and after removal. Results： The scores of IPSS were significantly increased in all patients, and symptoms in urinary tract had improved significantly after discharge (P<0.05). Compared with the 2 weeks group, the USSQ score of the 4 weeks group was significantly increased (P<0.05). And no significant adverse event was observed in the 2 weeks group after the removal of ureteral sten. Conclusion： IPSS score and USSQ score increased significantly during stent implantation in BPH patients with lithiasis. And complications increased significantly over time. Following thorough clinical assessment, early ureteral stent removal demonstrates both safety and efficacy, representing an optimal therapeutic approach in selected cases.
Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/surgery* ; Stents ; Ureter/surgery* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Urinary Calculi/surgery* ; Ureteral Calculi/surgery*

Objective: To investigate the Alzheimer's disease (AD) influencing factors among the elderly, so as to provide a basis for early prevention and intervention. Methods: From March to June 2024, participants aged 60 years and above from a sub-district in Haishu District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data on demographics, lifestyle, and health status were collected through questionnaire surveys. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the short-form Geriatric Depression Scale. The Chinese Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used for the initial screening of AD, and individuals who screened positive were further diagnosed by psychiatrists. Factors affecting AD among the elderly were analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 3 644 individuals were surveyed, comprising 1 526 males (41.88%) and 2 118 females (58.12%). The mean age was (71.85±7.44) years. AD was detected in 200 cases, with a detection rate of 5.49%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that individuals aged ≥65 years (65-<70 years, OR=3.012, 95%CI: 1.007-9.012; 70-<75 years, OR=3.131, 95%CI: 1.059-9.260; 75-<80 years, OR=5.779, 95%CI: 1.989-16.784; ≥80 years, OR=16.810, 95%CI: 5.926-47.685), those who were unmarried, divorced, or widowed (OR=1.973, 95%CI: 1.383-2.815), those with hearing loss (OR=1.573, 95%CI: 1.128-2.193), those with diabetes mellitus (OR=1.958, 95%CI: 1.362-2.814), and those with depressive symptoms (OR=4.143, 95%CI: 2.997-5.728) had a higher risk of AD. Conversely, individuals with an educational level of primary school or above (primary school, OR=0.579, 95%CI: 0.401-0.835; junior high school or above, OR=0.438, 95%CI: 0.259-0.741), and those who engaged in regular physical exercise (OR=0.414, 95%CI: 0.264-0.649) had a lower risk of AD. Conclusions The detection rate of AD was relatively high among the elderly in Haishu District. AD among the elderly was related to age, educational level, marital status, physical exercise, hearing loss, diabetes mellitus, and depressive symptoms.

This study aims to comprehensively analyze the material basis of toad visceral oil(hereafter referred to as toad oil), and explore the pharmacological effect of toad oil on atopic dermatitis(AD). Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-linear ion trap/orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry(UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) were employed to comprehensively identify the chemical components in toad oil. The animal model of AD was prepared by the hapten stimulation method. The modeled animals were respectively administrated with positive drug(0.1% hydrocortisone butyrate cream) and low-and high-doses(1%, 10%) of toad oil by gavage. The effect of toad oil on AD was evaluated with the AD score, ear swelling rate, spleen index, and pathological section results as indicators. A total of 99 components were identified by UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS, including 14 bufadienolides, 7 fatty acids, 6 alkaloids, 10 ketones, 18 amides, and other compounds. After methylation of toad oil samples, a total of 20 compounds were identified by GC-MS. Compared with the model group, the low-and high-dose toad oil groups showed declined AD score, ear swelling rate, and spleen index, alleviated skin lesions, and reduced infiltrating mast cells. This study comprehensively analyzes the chemical composition and clarifies the material basis of toad oil. Meanwhile, this study proves that toad oil has a good therapeutic effect on AD and is a reserve resource of traditional Chinese medicine for external use in the treatment of AD.
Animals ; Dermatitis, Atopic/immunology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Male ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Humans ; Bufonidae ; Oils/administration & dosage* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Female ; Mice, Inbred BALB C

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterized by persistent or recurrent dyspeptic symptoms without identifiable organic, systemic or metabolic causes, is an increasingly recognized global health issue. The objective of this guideline is to equip clinicians and nursing professionals with evidence-based strategies for the management and treatment of adult patients with FD using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Guideline Development Group consulted existing TCM consensus documents on FD and convened a panel of 35 clinicians to generate initial clinical queries. To address these queries, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, China Biology Medicine (SinoMed) Database, Wanfang Database, Traditional Medicine Research Data Expanded (TMRDE), and the Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (TCMLARS). The evidence from the literature was critically appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The strength of the recommendations was ascertained through a consensus-building process involving TCM and allopathic medicine experts, methodologists, pharmacologists, nursing specialists, and health economists, leveraging their collective expertise and empirical knowledge. The guideline comprises a total of 43 evidence-informed recommendations that span a range of clinical aspects, including the pathogenesis according to TCM, diagnostic approaches, therapeutic interventions, efficacy assessments, and prognostic considerations. Please cite this article as: Zhang SS, Zhao LQ, Hou XH, Bian ZX, Zheng JH, Tian HH, Yang GH, Hong WS, He YY, Liu L, Shen H, Li YP, Xie S, Shu J, Zeng BF, Li JX, Liu Z, Xiao ZH, Xiao JD, Zheng PY, Huang SG, Chen SL, Fei GJ. International clinical practice guideline on the use of traditional Chinese medicine for functional dyspepsia (2025). J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):502-518.
Dyspepsia/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

Objective: To investigate the factors affecting depression and anxiety symptoms among the elderly, so as to provide the basis for promoting mental health among the elderly. Methods: The elderly aged 60 years and above in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province were recruited using the multistage stratified random sampling method from June to August 2022, and demographic information, lifestyle and self-rated health status were collected by questionnaires. The symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), respectively. The presence of depressive and anxiety symptoms was determined when both the PHQ-9 score and the GAD-7 score were 10 points and higher. Factors affecting depressive and anxiety symptoms were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 7 771 individuals were surveyed, including 3 490 males (44.91%) and 4 281 females (55.09%), and had a mean age of (72.11±6.79) years. The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms was 2.05%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified residence (urban area, OR=0.316, 95%CI: 0.201-0.498), sedentary duration (<3 h/d, OR=0.349, 95%CI: 0.232-0.525; 3-5 h/d, OR=0.458, 95%CI: 0.313-0.671), physical activity (≥3 times/week, OR=0.551, 95%CI: 0.373-0.815), sleep quality (poor, OR=2.491, 95%CI: 1.738-3.571), social isolation (OR=1.688, 95%CI: 1.148-2.481) and self-rated health (poor, OR=5.857, 95%CI: 3.547-9.671; normal, OR=1.903, 95%CI: 1.234-2.937) as the influencing factors for depression and anxiety symptoms among the elderly. Conclusion The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among the elderly is associated with residence, sedentary duration, sleep quality, physical activity, social interactions and self-rated health status.

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive dysfunction and behavioral impairments. Currently, the treatment mainly relies on pharmacotherapy, yet its effectiveness is limited and accompanied by adverse reactions. Multimodal non-pharmacological interventions (MNPI), which combine two or more non-pharmacological intervention approaches, can synergistically improve cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms, activities of daily living, and quality of life in AD patients, and offers advantages of safety, cost-effectiveness and simplicity. This article reviews MNPI-related literature published domestically and internationally from 2018 to 2024, and focuses on the application of cognitive training, physical activity, and other combined intervention methods in MNPI, providing the reference for developing personalized interventions for AD.

Objective To observe the effects of brain-computer interface-controlled pedal training system on bal-ance function and serum interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)levels in ischemic stroke pa-tients.Methods Forty patients with ischemic stroke who were hospitalized from September 2022 to September 2023 were selected as observation subjects.The patients were equally divided into stroke control group and stroke experimental group according to the random number table method.At the same time,20 healthy subjects with similar gender and age were recruited as the healthy control group to collect relevant plantar pressure data.Patients in the stroke control group received conventional rehabilitation training including the upper and lower extremity active and passive motor training system,and the stroke experimental group replaced the upper and lower extremity active and passive motor training system in the stroke control group with the brain-computer interface-controlled pedal training system for rehabilitation treatment,and other things remained unchanged.Bilateral plantar pressure symmetry index(SI)and center of body pressure(COP)swing area were collected from both groups of stroke patients with eyes open and closed using the plantar pressure assessment system before and after 4 weeks of treatment.Fugl-meyer low-er extremity motor function score(FMA-LE)and berg balance scale(BBS)were used to evaluate the two groups of stroke patients.Serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels were also compared between the two groups before and after treat-ment.Results ① The SI value and COP swing area in the eyes open and closed state improved in both groups of stroke patients after treatment compared with that before admission,and the results of the stroke experimental group were better than those of the stroke control group(P＜0.05),but there was still a gap with the healthy control group(P＜0.05).②The BBS and FMA-LE scores of stroke patients in both groups were higher after treatment than before treatment,and the scores of the stroke experimental group were greater than those of the stroke control group,with statistically significant differences(all P＜0.05).③Serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels decreased in both groups of stroke patients after treatment compared with before,and the degree of decrease in serum IL-6 and TNF-αlevels in the stroke experimental group was greater than that in the stroke control group,and the difference was sta-tistically significant(P＜0.001,P＜0.05).Conclusion Brain-computer interface-controlled pedal training sys-tem has a facilitating effect on the recovery of balance function in hemiplegic patients with ischemic stroke,and its mechanism may be related to the reduction of serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels.

Objective:To explore the effect of low intensity pulsed ultrasound(LIPUS)on inhibiting the abnormal cell phenotype of fibroblast-like synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis(RA-FLS)and possible mechanism. Method:Synoviocytes were isolated by using enzyme digestion,and the morphology of cells was observed un-der microscope.At the same time,the expression of Vimentin protein was detected by immunofluorescence method to identify RA-FLS.Cells cultured in vitro were divided into four groups:control group,LIPUS group,tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α)group and TNF-α+LIPUS group or three groups:control group,interleu-kin-6(IL-6)group and IL-6+LIPUS group.The effects of LIPUS on RA-FLS cell viability and proliferation were detected by CCK8 and EDU assay respectively,and the effects of LIPUS on RA-FLS migration were ob-served by scratch test and Transwell migration assay.RT-qPCR was used to detect the gene expression of im-portant cytokines,chemokines and matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs)in RA-FLS.ELISA was used to further detect the effect of LIPUS on the expression of IL-6,a key effector of RA-FLS,and the effects of LIPUS on mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway in RA-FLS were detected by Western Blot. Result:Purified RA-FLS were obtained.Firstly,LIPUS could suppress the cell activity(P＜0.00l)and prolifer-ation(P=0.007)induced by TNF-α in RA-FLS cultured in vitro.However,the migration and the transcription levels of MMPs related to migration(MMP2 and MMP9)were not significantly different between groups(P＞0.05).LIPUS could inhibit the high expression of IL-6 and interleukin-8(IL-8)at the mRNA level in the in-flammatory environment induced by TNF-α(P＜0.001),but there was no significant difference in the suppres-sion of interleukin-1β(IL-1β),MMP1 and MMP13(P＞0.05).In addition,compared with untreated group,LI-PUS could inhibit the secretion of IL-6 in RA-FLS induced by TNF-α(P＜0.001),and also inhibited the pro-liferation of RA-FLS induced by IL-6(P-0.003).Finally,LIPUS could inhibit the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK)in MAPK signaling pathway(P=0.033),but the effect on the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinas 1/2(ERK1/2)was not significantly(P＞0.05). Conclusion:LIPUS could reduce the abnormal proliferation of RA-FLS in inflammatory state without affecting its migration,which might be related to the inhibition of p38/JNK-IL-6 signaling pathway.