Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of the plasma cytokines and endothelium function in patients with chronic pulmonary heart failure disease at high altitude area.Methods Plasma levels of tumor necrosisfactor-alpha(TNF-?),interleukin-6(IL-6),endothelin-1(ET-1) were measured in 278 chronic pulmonary heart patients with various degrees of heart failure and in 48 healthy controls.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),Right ventricular ejection fraction(RVEF) and Pulmonary(PASP) were examined with echocardiography.Results Plasma levels of TNF-?,IL-6,ET-1 were elevated in patients of functional classes Ⅱto Ⅳ as compared with age-matched control subjects and were progressively elvated with the decreasing functional status of the patients.The levels of TNF-?,IL-6,ET-1 respectively were positively correlated with PASP but negtively correlated with LVEF and RVEF(P

Objective To study the relationship between malnutrition and respiratory muscle strengthas well as the effect of diet supplement on respiratory muscle strength in elderlypatients with chronic cor pulmonale in high altitude areas(HAECCP). Methods 46 patients with HAECCP not in exacerbation were divided into two groups, namely, diet supplement group (23 cases) and control group (23 cases). The caloric intake was increased by 45%-50% in the diet supplement group. Ten parameters with regard to body weight, muscle strength and respiratory function were measured in all the patients. These parameters included percentage of ideal body weight (%IBW), triceps skinfold thickness(TSF), midarm muscle circumference (MAMC), maximal inspiratory pressure(PImax), maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax),maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure(Pdimax),forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV_1) ,expressed as percentage predicted (FEV_1%), ratio of FEV_1 to forced vital capacity (FEV_1/FVC), partial pressure of arterial O_2 (PaO_2) and partial pressure of alveolar CO_2(PaCO_2). All the parameters were measured again after 4 weeks. Results There was no significant differece between the parameters in the two groups before the treatment. After 4 weeks of treatment, there was significant improvement in %IBW, serum albumin (Alb), TSF, MAMC, PImax,PEmax,Pdimax in the diet supplement group, indicating the effect of increased nutrition on body weight and respiratory muscle strength. However, no significant difference was found in the parameters of pulmonary function and blood gas analysis after diet supplement. NO change was observed in the parameters of the controls after 4 weeks. Conclusions In stable patients with HAECCP not in exacerbation, the strength of respiratory muscle decreased as a result of malnutrition. After diet supplement, the strength of respiratory muscle increased with accompanying improvement in nutritional status.

Objective:Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a malignant tumor derived from bile duct epithelial cells with extremely poor prognosis. The Hippo-Yes-associated protein (YAP)/transcription activator with PDZ binding motif (TAZ) signaling plays a critical role in cancer stem cell biology. Previous studies have shown that the positive expression of YAP/TAZ in CCA predicts larger tumor size and unfavorable clinical outcomes. We aim to evaluate the prognostic value of YAP/TAZ detection in CCA patients.Methods:CCA patients who underwent radical resection were retrospectively analyzed at our institution from January 2011 to June 2016. Postoperative pathological specimens were scored by YAP/TAZ immunohistochemical staining. The prognostic value of YAP/TAZ was analyzed by multivariate Cox-proportional hazards model.Results:A total of 91 CCA patients were enrolled. During a median follow-up time of 11.0 months, 69.2% patients relapsed and 45.1% died. The median OS and DFS were 10.7 months and 8.8 months respectively. The YAP/TAZ dual positive patients owned a worse TNM stage ( P=0.015), poorer tissue differentiation ( P=0.007), and a higher CA199 than those in negative patients. Multivariate Cox analysis identified that YAP/TAZ dual positivity as a significant factor predicted poorer OS ( P=0.010) and DFS ( P=0.028) in CCA patients after radical resection. In subgroup analysis, YAP/TAZ combination also significantly predicted OS ( P=0.044) and DFS ( P=0.043) in CCA patients with positive lymphatic metastasis and/or surgical margin who required adjuvant therapy. Conclusions:YAP/TAZ positivity is an independent predictive factor for survival in CCA patients after radical resectiony.

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of hand tenosynovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods:Seventy-six RA patients were enrolled for hands ultrasound examination. Forty-five RA patients with synovitis and tenosynovitis were selected as the study group, clinical characteristics, laboratory test results, disease activity score for 28 joint counts (DAS28), were evaluated and assessed, and the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) was filled out, and semi-quantitative classification the ultrasonic indicators (synovial hyperplasia, synovitis, tenosynovitis, bone erosion) were also assessed. Forty-two non-RA patients with hand tenosynovitis were selected as the control group. Mann-whitney U test, Spearman correlation and paired U test were used for statistical analysis. Results:① In the RA group, synovial hyperplasia [7.50(3.00, 17.50)], synovitis [6.00(2.00, 14.00)], tenosynovitis [6.00(2.00, 12.00)], bone erosion [0.50(0.00, 4.00)] were statisticantly different when compared with in non-RA group in hyperplasia [5.00(3.00, 6.00)], synovitis [3.00(2.00, 4.30)], tenosynovitis [2.00(1.00, 3.00)], bone erosion [0.00(0.00, 1.00)] ( Z=2.143, P=0.032; Z=2.756, P=0.006; Z=5.560, P<0.01; Z=2.550, P=0.011). ② In the RA group, synovial hyperplasia and synovitis were positively correlated with swollen joint counts (SJC), tender joint counts (TJC), platelet (PLT), C-reactive pro-tein (CRP) and DAS28 [synovial hyperplasia ( r=0.806, P<0.01; r=0.486, P<0.01; r=0.326, P<0.05; r=0.450, P<0.01; r=0.413, P<0.01); and synovitis ( r=0.819, P<0.01; r=0.446, P<0.01; r=0.351, P<0.05; r=0.481, P<0.01; r=0.412, P<0.01)]. Tenosynovitis was positively correlated with SJC, CRP and DAS28 ( r=0.436, P<0.01; r=0.496, P<0.05; r=0.359, P<0.05) , bone erosion was positively correlated with disease course and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody ( r=0.418, P<0.01; r=0.338, P<0.05) . ③ The sensitivity of synovial hyperplasia, synovitis, tenosynovitis, bone erosion and synovitis combined with tenosynovitis for the diagnosis of RA was 0.41, 0.61, 0.57, 0.48, 0.61 and the specificity was 0.95, 0.76, 1, 0.83, 0.93, respectively. ④ The largest area under the ROC curve was tenosynovitis [area under the curve (AUC)=0.841], the area under the curve of tenosynovitis and synovitis combined with tenosynovitis was significantly different from synovitis hyperplasia, synovitis and bone erosion [tenosynovitis( Z=3.291, P=0.001; Z=2.651, P=0.008; Z=3.032, P=0.002); synovitis combined with tenosynovitis( Z=4.346, P=0.001; Z=3.753, P=0.001; Z=2.547, P=0.012)]. Conclusion:Synovitis has a high sensitivity for the diagnosis of RA, and tenosynovitis has a high specificity for the diagnosis of RA, synovitis combined with tenosynovitis can improve the specificity for the diagnosis of RA.

Objective:To assess the diagnostic value of anti-salivary gland protein-1(SP1)antibody combined with anti-parotid secretory protein(PSP)antibody for Sj?gren's syndrome(SS).Methods:A total of 60 patients with primary SS(pSS)who were treated in the outpatient and inpatient department of Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2020 to December 2022 were collected.Thirty patients with other autoimmune diseases accompa-nied by dry mouth and/or dry eyes were collected as disease control group.Thirty healthy subjects from the physical examination center were collected for healthy control group,serum samples were obtained from all of them.Their general features and clinical information including clinical manifestations,labora-tory examinations and other examinations were recorded.The 2016 American College of Rheumatology(ACR)/European League against Rheumatism(EULAR)classification criteria were adopted as the diag-nostic standard of pSS.Immunoglobulin G(IgG)subtype of anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody were detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the accuracy of anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody in diagnosing pSS.The cli-nical characteristics of anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody positive patients and negative patients in pSS group were further compared.Independent samples t test,Mann-Whitney U test,variance analysis,Kruskal-Wallis test,Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test and Spearman correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results:There was no significant difference in age(F=1.406,P=0.495)and gender(x2=2.105,P=0.349)among pSS group,disease control group and healthy control group.The expression levels of anti-SP1 antibody(H=16.73,P＜0.001)and anti-PSP antibody(H=26.09,P＜0.001)were statistically different among the three groups.An intergroup comparison of anti-SP1 antibody expression levels showed that there was a statistically significant difference between pSS and healthy con-trol group(P＜0.001),but no statistically significant difference between the other groups.Comparison of anti-PSP antibody expression levels between the groups showed that there were statistically significant differences between pSS and healthy control group(P＜0.001),and between disease control group and healthy control group(P=0.009),while no statistically significant differences between the other groups.The positive rate of anti-SP1 antibody in pSS group was significantly higher than that in disease control group and healthy control group(58.33％vs.40.00％vs.13.33％,P＜0.001).The positive rate of anti-PSP antibody in pSS group was significantly higher than that in disease control group and healthy control group(75.00％vs.56.17％vs.16.67％,P＜0.001).The area under the curve for anti-SP1 antibody was 0.688(P＜0.001).The sensitivity and specificity of anti-SP1 antibody were 58.33％(35/60)and 70.00％(42/60)respectively,the positive predictive value was 66.04％(35/53)and the negative predictive value was 54.55％(42/77)of anti-SP1 antibody.The area under the curve of anti-PSP antibody was 0.720(P＜0.001),with a sensitivity was 75.00％(45/60),and spe-cificity was 63.33％(38/60).The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of anti-PSP an-tibody were 67.16％(45/67)and 71.70％(38/53)respectively.All the 13 pSS patients were negative for anti-Sjogren's syndrome A(SSA,including SSA52 and SSA60)antibody and anti-Sjogren's syn-drome B(SSB)antibody.Among them,11 patients were positive for both anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody,1 patient was positive for anti-SP1 antibody and 1 patient was positive for anti-PSP anti-body.The clinical features of anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody positive and negative groups were compared in pSS patients.The duration of disease in anti-SP1 antibody positive group was shorter(Z=-2.277,P=0.023)when compared with the negative patients.The patients with positive anti-PSP an-tibody were younger than those in the negative group(t=2.598,P＜0.05),the positive rate of rheuma-toid factor(P=0.002)and the serum level of IgG(t=3.806,P=0.003)in anti-PSP antibody positive group were higher than in the negative group.Analysis of the correlation between anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody in the pSS patients showed that there was significant correlation between them(r=0.801,P＜0.001).Conclusion:Both anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody are valuable in the diag-nosis of SS,and anti-SP1 antibody is helpful for the early diagnosis of pSS.The combined detection of anti-SP1 antibody and anti-PSP antibody is helpful for the early diagnosis of pSS patients with negative anti-SSA antibody and anti-SSB antibody.