Objective To investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonists on liver function and reactivation of hepatitis B virus ( HBV ) in patients with inflammatory arthropathy with concurrent chronic HBV infection.Methods Patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who were grouped according to serum HBV biomarkers were treated with TNF-α antagonist.The liver function and reactivation of HBV were monitored before and after anti-TNF-α therapy.Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance on ranks of continuous variables and x2 test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables among 3 or more groups.Results Fifty patients were enrolled with 3 to 23 months of follow-up visit.The level of transaminases in chronic HBV infection group [n=11,AST (36±18) U/L,ALT (44±46) U/L] were significantly higher than that in past HBV exposure group [n=16,AST (22±6) U/L,ALT (17±9) U/L] or free of HBV infection group [n=23,AST (19±6) U/L,ALT (15±9) U/L](AST:x2=11.161,P＜0.01,ALT:x2=8.038,P＜0.01).One patient with elevated baseline HBV-DNA load was treated concomitantly with lamivudine and anti-TNF-α therapy,and the HBV-DNA load reduced about to normal 4 months later.Among the other 10 patients with normal baseline HBV-DNA load in chronic HBV infection group,one patient showed reactivation of HBV with elevated transaminases after anti-TNF-α therapy; another patient had only elevated transaminases without reactivation of HBV,and the transaminases returned to normal after withdrawal of antiTNF-α therapy,which suggested drug-induced liver injury.All patients in both past HBV exposure group and free of HBV infection group remained HBsAg negative after the therapy.Conclusion Patients with inflammatory arthropathy should be screened for HBV infection and check liver function before anti-TNF-α therapy,and carefully monitor the reactivation of HBV and liver function during treatment.Patients with concurrent chronic HBV infection should be treated conco-mitantly with anti-virus and anti-TNF-α therapy if they have elevated baseline HBV-DNA load (＞105 copies/ml,in particular) and good economic situation.

Objective To investigate the dynamic expression and significance of B cell lymphoma (Bcl) 6 in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) induced osteoclast differentiation and activation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.Methods RA-FLS were co-cultured with peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers in the medium containing M-CSF.Bcl6 protein and mRNA in osteoclasts and their precursors were determined by immunofluorescence and Real-time PCR at day 0,7,14 and 21,respectively.Osteoclasts were identified by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining.Bone resorption activity of osteoclasts was determined by bone slices stained with toluidine blue.Kruskal-Wallis H and Bonferroni were used for statistical analysis.Results ① Immunofluorescence staining and TRAP staining showed that Bcl6 protein was mainly expressed in the nuclei of PBMCs.After co-cultured with RA-FLS for 7 days,some PBMCs differentiated into macrophages and a few differentiated to TRAP-positive multinucleated osteoclasts,and the total Bcl6 protein expression in osteoclasts and their precursors were increased.At day 14,the total Bcl6 protein expression was increased further.At day 21,the Bcl6 protein expression in nuclei of osteoclasts was decreased while PBMCs were differentiated into osteoclasts,and total Bcl6 protein expression was decreased.②Real-time PCR showed that Bcl6 mRNA expression in osteoclasts and their precursors at day 7 tended to increase than that at day 0 (x2=3.429,P＞0.05).At day 14 after co-cultured with RA-FLS,Bcl6 mRNA expression in osteoclasts and their precursors was significantly higher than that at day 0 (x2=5.333,P=0.045).At day 21,the expression of Bcl6 mRNA was significantly lower than that at day 14 (x2=6.023,P=0.038).Conclusion Bcl6 may be involved in osteoclast differentiation and activation,and may play a role in the inflammatory status in the process of differentiation from PBMCs to macrophages.Further studies are needed to establish the mechanisms.

Objective To investigate the effect of surgical treatment of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) with different surgical ages.Methods From January 2014 to December 2017,105 neonates with NEC in our hospital were divided into early operation group (operation age ＜ 7 days,n =47) and late operation group (7 ＜ operation age ＜ 28 days,n =58).The general data,surgical indications,intraoperative conditions,surgical methods,postoperative complications,and postoperative survival rates were compared between the two groups.Results Among the 105 neonates with NEC,74 were male and 31 were female.The average birth weight was (2 398 ± 927)g,and the average gestational age was (35 ± 4)weeks.Compared with the early operation group,the late operation group had lighter birth weight,smaller gestational age and higher rate of respiratory failure (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference between the two groups in the proportion of surgical indications (diffuse peritonitis,pneumoperitoneum,and medical treatment ineffective) (P ＞ 0.05).The necrosis rate of small intestine in the late operation group was higher than that in the early operation group,but the necrosis rate of small intestine and colon was lower than that in the early operation group (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the proportions of the two groups in the surgical methods (enterostomy,intestinal resection and anastomosis and enterostom,exploratory laparotomy,abdominal drainage,and intestinal resection and anastomosis) (P ＞ 0.05).The incidence of intestinal stenosis in early operation group was higher than that in late operation group (P ＜ 0.05).The survival rate of early operation group was 78.7％,while that of late operation group was 63.8％,with no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The patients with NEC who were operated within 1 week after birth are more common in term infants and with colon necrosis,and are more likely to occur intestinal stenosis after surgery.The patients with NEC who were operated after 1 week of birth are more common in prematures and low-birth-weight patients,and are often associated with respiratory failure.Pneumoperitoneum and diffuse peritonitis are common surgical indications for NEC.Enterostomy is the major surgical method.Choosing the right timing and surgical method can improve the prognosis of patients with NEC.

Objective This study aims to investigate the sex difference in the hippocampus and parahippocampus in patients with bipolar disorder. Methods We acquired T1－weighted structural MRI from 133 bipolar type I patients (60 males) and 144 normal controls (81 males). The General Linear Model was used to examine the relationship between sex and brain volumes of the hippocampus and parahippocampus, with age and intracranial volume as covariates. Results Patients showed significantly smaller volumes of the bilateral hippocampus and parahippocampus (P＜0.01). There were sex－by－diagnosis interactions in the left parahippocampus gyrus (F=6.534, P=0.044). Male patients had significant smaller volumes of the left parahippocampus gyrus compared to the male normal controls (P＜0.001) whereas the volumes were not significantly different between female patients and female normal controls (P＞0.05). Conclusion The results suggest sex difference in the left parahippocampus gyrus volume in patients with bipolar type I disorder, which deserves further investigation in the future bipolar imaging researches.

Objective To summarize the pathology of congenital intestinal atresia,the incidence and prenatal diagnosis rate of different types,and to analyze the location and type of intestinal atresia as well as the factors that affect the mortality of various types of intestinal atresia.Method We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 147 children with congenital intestinal atresia from January 2013 to March 2016,including gender,gestational age,parity,prenatal diagnosis or not,delivery methods,hospital admission,surgical methods,findings during surgery,combined malformations,complications and prognosis.They were analyzed statistically.Result A total of 147 cases,including 69 males and 78 females were enrolled.There were 40 premature infants and 107 full term cases.Twins were found in 3 cases.Hospital admission age range from 1 hour to 62 days;admission weight range from 1 480 g to 4 200 g;32 cases were diagnosed before birth.2 cases were abandoned before surgery because of trisomy 21.Postoperatively,the occlusion sites was confirmed as following:67 cases (46.2％) in ileum,43 cases (29.7％) in jejunum,26 cases (17.9％) in duodenum,and 9 cases (6.2％) in colon.The pathological types were as following:type Ⅰ 42 cases (29.0％),type Ⅱ 8 cases (5.5％),type Ⅲa 65 cases (44.8％),type Ⅲb 15 cases (10.3％) and type Ⅳ 15 cases (10.3％).22 cases (14.9％) were died because of refusal of treatment:7 cases were due to short bowel syndrome and meconium peritonitis,6 cases were due to postoperative chronic pseudo-obstruction,and 5 cases had anastomotic leakage requiring reoperation.1 case had postoperative enterocolitis and gave up treatment,1 case had anastomotic leak and sever systemic post-surgery infection and gave up further treatment,and 2 cases gave up because of 21-trisomy syndrome.Conclusion The operation plan of intestinal atresia should be based on the location and type of the blockade;the location and complications of the blockade (pseudo-obstruction,short bowel syndrome,and anastomotic leakage) are important factors affecting the treatment and prognosis.

Objective:To study the clinical characteristics of congenital esophageal atresia (CEA) and risk factors of mortality associated with esophageal repair (ER) surgery.Methods:From January 2010 to December 2022, patients diagnosed of CEA using chest and abdomen X-ray and esophagography in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were assigned into ER group and non-ER group according to the treatments. The ER group was subgrouped into survival group and death group according to the prognosis. Clinical data and outcomes were collected and compared between the groups.Results:A total of 553 cases were enrolled. According to Gross classification, 29 patients (5.2%) were type A, 2 patients (0.4%) were type B, 504 patients (91.1%) were type C, 6 patients (1.1%) were type D and 11 patients (2.0%) were type E. One patient had simple transluminal septal atresia of the esophagus. 406 patients were in ER group and 147 in non-ER group. Compared with ER group, non-ER group had significantly higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight and overall malformations (all P<0.05). In ER group, 152 patients (37.4%) received open thoracic surgery (OTS), 243 (59.9%) had video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and 11 (2.7%) were VATS converted to OTS. Postoperative anastomotic leakage (PAL) occurred in 92 patients (22.7%) and 15 patients (3.7%) died after surgery. The median length of hospital stay was 23 (17, 36) d. Compared with the survival group, the death group had higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight, VATS converted to OTS, mechanical ventilation after ER, and shorter length of hospital stay (all P<0.05). After adjusted for birth weight, VATS converted to OTS ( OR=9.585, 95% CI 1.899-48.374) and mechanical ventilation after ER ( OR=7.821, 95% CI 1.002-61.057) were risk factors of mortality in ER patients. Conclusions:Non-ER patients have higher incidences of preterm birth, low birth weight and overall malformations than ER patients. VATS is the method of choice for CEA. Preterm birth, low birth weight, VATS converted to OTS and mechanical ventilation after ER are risk factors of mortality in ER patients.