Objective: To explore the association between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and elevated blood pressure among primary school students, and to analyze the mediating role of body mass index (BMI) in this association, so as to provide a scientific basis for the early prevention of childhood hypertension and dietary guidance. Methods: Research conducted based on the Ma anshan Child Growth Cohort in Anhui Province. From April to June 2024, 4 057 primary school students were selected as study subjects using a multi stage cluster sampling method. Dietary information was collected via Semi quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to calculate the DII score. BMI was obtained by measuring students height and weight. Elevated blood pressure was defined based on the Blood Pressure Reference Standards for Children Aged 3-17 Years. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between DII scores and the risk of elevated blood pressure, and the Bootstrap method was employed to test for mediating effects. Results: The detection rate of elevated blood pressure among primary school students was 10.1% (408 cases). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that, after adjusting for covariates such as gender and age, for each standard deviation increase in the DII score ( s =1.94), the risk of elevated blood pressure increased by 15% ( OR =1.15, 95% CI =1.04- 1.28 , P <0.05). Compared with the lowest quartile group of DII scores ( Q 1), students in the highest quartile group ( Q 4) had a 1.31-fold higher risk of elevated blood pressure ( OR =1.31, 95% CI =1.00-1.76, P <0.05). Restricted cubic spline results indicated a linear dose response relationship between DII scores and the risk of elevated blood pressure( P nonlinear =0.13). The mediation analysis revealed that BMI played a partial mediating role in the association between DII scores and elevated blood pressure. The mediation effect value was 0.06 (95% CI =0.04-0.08), accounting for 44.64% of the total effect. Conclusions DII scores are associated with elevated blood pressure among primary school students in Ma anshan City, and BMI plays a partial mediating role in this association. Promoting an anti inflammatory dietary pattern and weight control in early childhood should be emphasized to reduce the incidence of hypertension among primary school students.

OBJECTIVE: Comorbid pain and depression are common but remain difficult to treat. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve symptoms of depression and relieve pain, but its neural mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to detect cerebral changes after initiating a mouse pain model via constriction of the infraorbital nerve (CION) and then treating these animals with EA. METHODS: Forty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into 4 groups: control, CION model, EA, and sham acupuncture (without needle insertion). EA was performed on the acupoints Baihui (GV20) and Zusanli (ST36) for 20 min, once a day for 10 consecutive days. The mechanical withdrawal threshold was tested 3 days after the surgery and every 3 days after the intervention. The depressive behavior was evaluated with the tail suspension test, open-field test, elevated plus maze (EPM), sucrose preference test, and marble burying test. The rs-fMRI was used to detect the cerebral changes of the functional connectivity (FC) in the mice following EA treatment. RESULTS: Compared with the CION group, the mechanical withdrawal threshold increased in the EA group at the end of the intervention (P < 0.05); the immobility time in tail suspension test decreased (P < 0.05); and the times of the open arm entry and the open arm time in the EPM increased (both P < 0.001). There was no difference in the sucrose preference or marble burying tests (both P > 0.05). The fMRI results showed that EA treatment downregulated the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity values, while these indicators were elevated in brain regions including the amygdala, hippocampus and cerebral cortex in the CION model for comorbid pain and depression. Selecting the amygdala as the seed region, we found that the FC was higher in the CION group than in the control group. Meanwhile, EA treatment was able to decrease the FC between the amygdala and other brain regions including the caudate putamen, thalamus, and parts of the cerebral cortex. CONCLUSION EA can downregulate the abnormal activation of neurons in the amygdala and improve its FC with other brain regions, thus exerting analgesic and antidepressant effects. Please cite this article as: Yin X, Zeng XL, Lin JJ, Xu WQ, Cui KY, Guo XT, Li W, Xu SF. Brain functional changes following electroacupuncture in a mouse model of comorbid pain and depression: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 159-168.
Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Male ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Depression/diagnostic imaging* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Pain/diagnostic imaging* ; Acupuncture Points

Objective To investigate the attributable risk(AR)of Acinetobacter baumannii(AB)infection in criti-cally ill patients.Methods A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted among adult patients in inten-sive care unit(ICU).Patients with AB isolated from sterile body fluid and confirmed with AB infection in each cen-ter were selected as the infected group.According to the matching criteria that patients should be from the same pe-riod,in the same ICU,as well as with similar APACHE Ⅱ score(±5 points)and primary diagnosis,patients who did not infect with AB were selected as the non-infected group in a 1:2 ratio.The AR was calculated.Results The in-hospital mortality of patients with AB infection in sterile body fluid was 33.3％,and that of non-infected group was 23.1％,with no statistically significant difference between the two groups(P=0.069).The AR was 10.2％(95％CI:-2.3％-22.8％).There is no statistically significant difference in mortality between non-infected pa-tients and infected patients from whose blood,cerebrospinal fluid and other specimen sources AB were isolated(P＞0.05).After infected with AB,critically ill patients with the major diagnosis of pulmonary infection had the high-est AR.There was no statistically significant difference in mortality between patients in the infected and non-infec-ted groups(P＞0.05),or between other diagnostic classifications.Conclusion The prognosis of AB infection in critically ill patients is highly overestimated,but active healthcare-associated infection control for AB in the ICU should still be carried out.

This study was aimed at investigating the antimicrobial susceptibility and genomic characteristics of multidrug resistant diarrheagenic Escherichia coli isolated from human and food samples in Henan Province from 2017 to 2022.A total of 101 strains of multidrug resistant diarrheagenic E.coli were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing with the broth di-lution method.Whole genome sequencing was performed to analyze the antimicrobial resistance genes,multilocus sequence typ-ing,and plasmid types.The sequencing data were used to construct a phylogenetic tree based on core genome single-nucleotide polymorphisms(cgSNPs).The isolates showed the highest resistance to ampicillin(87.1％),followed by tetracycline(79.2％)and nalidixic acid(64.4％).The resistance rate to cefotaxime was 38.6％.All 101 strains were classified into 60 STs,among which ST10,ST1491,and ST38 were dominant.Moreover,23 distinct plasmid replicons were identified,among which IncFIB was dominant.Diverse antimicrobial resistance genes(including quinolone,aminoglycoside,β-lactamase,and tetracycline)were identified.Insertion sequences(IS26,IS903B,and ISECP 1)were identified in upstream and downstream analysis of the gene context of the extended-spectrum β-lactamase bla CTX-M-14 and bla CTX-M-55 genes.In conclusion,multidrug resistant diarrhea-genic Escherichia coli isolated from clinical and food samples in Henan Province showed high genetic diversity and high antimi-crobial resistance.The dissemination of blaCTX-M carried by the strains was shown to be associated with the insertion sequence(IS).

Objective:To observe the effects of different intervention schemes on the expression of adhesion-related cytokines, menstrual recovery and clinical outcome of patients after transcervical resection of adhesion (TCRA) .Methods:180 patients received TCRA in our hospital from Feb. 2022 to Feb. 2023 were divided into group A, group B and group C according to different post-operative intervention programs, with 60 patients in each group. Patients in group A were treated with artificial cycle of estrogen and progesterone after surgery. On this basis, patients in group B were placed with a uterine birth control ring, and patients in group C were injected with sodium hyaluronate gel into the uterine cavity. The grade of uterine cavity adhesion, improvement rate of menstruation and pregnancy outcome at 2 months after operation and pregnancy outcome within 1 year after surgery were compared between the three groups at 2 months after operation. The relative mRNA expression of endometrial tissue transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB), tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) at uterine cavity adhesion in each group were detected and compared.Results:At 2 months after surgery, the uterine adhesion rates in group A, group B, and group C were 43.33%, 15.00%, and 11.67%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the uterine adhesion rates between group B and group C ( P>0.05), but they were significantly lower than those in group A ( P<0.05) ; Meanwhile, the degree of intrauterine adhesions in group B and group C was significantly milder than that in group A ( P<0.05). The menstrual improvement rates of group A, group B, and group C at 2 months after surgery were 76.67%, 93.33%, and 96.67%, respectively. There was no significant difference between group B and group C ( P>0.05), but they were all significantly higher than group A ( P<0.05). At 2 months post surgery, the relative expression levels of TGF-β1, PDGF-BB, TIMP-1, and bFGF mRNA in the endometrial tissue at the site of uterine adhesions in group A were 0.77±0.26, 0.58±0.27, 0.54±0.15, and 0.62±0.14, respectively. In group B, they were 0.37±0.16, 0.37±0.14, 0.26±0.11, and 0.29±0.10, respectively. In group C, they were 0.32±0.16, 0.21±0.09, 0.27±0.08, and 0.34±0.18, respectively. The relative expression levels of cytokines in each group were significantly lower than during surgery ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the relative expression levels of various cytokines mRNA between group B and group C at 2 months after surgery ( P>0.05), but both were significantly lower than group A ( P<0.05). The pregnancy success rates within 1 year after surgery in group A, group B, and group C were 40.00%, 55.00%, and 58.33%, respectively. The pregnancy success rate in group C was significantly higher than that in group A ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The application of metauterine contraceptive ring or sodium hyaluronate gel on the basis of estrogen and progesterone treatment after TCRA can effectively prevent postoperative re-adhesion of patients with intrauterine adhesions, improve clinical symptoms, and reduce the expression level of adhesion cytokines. The effects of the two schemes are equivalent.

Objective: To establish a dynamic syndromic surveillance system in the border areas of Yunnan Province based on information technology, evaluate its effectiveness and timeliness in the response to common communicable disease epidemics and improve the communicable disease prevention and control in border areas. Methods: Three border counties were selected for full coverage as study areas, and dynamic surveillance for 14 symptoms and 6 syndromes were conducted in medical institutions, the daily collection of information about students' school absence in primary schools and febrile illness in inbound people at border ports were conducted in these counties from January 2016 to February 2018 to establish an early warning system based on mobile phone and computer platform for a field experimental study. Results: With syndromes of rash, influenza-like illness and the numbers of primary school absence, the most common communicable disease events, such as hand foot and mouth disease, influenza and chickenpox, can be identified 1-5 days in advance by using EARS-3C and Kulldorff time-space scanning models with high sensitivity and specificity. The system is easy to use with strong security and feasibility. All the information and the warning alerts are released in the form of interactive charts and visual maps, which can facilitate the timely response. Conclusions: This system is highly effective and easy to operate in the detection of possible outbreaks of common communicable diseases in border areas in real time, so the timely and effective intervention can be conducted to reduce the risk of local and cross-border communicable disease outbreaks. It has practical application value.
Humans ; Influenza, Human ; Sentinel Surveillance ; Syndrome ; China ; Cell Phone

Objective: To characterize the serum bile acid profiles of healthy children in Zhejiang Province. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 245 healthy children who underwent imaging and laboratory biochemical tests during routine physical examinations at the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2020 to July 2022. Overnight fasting venous blood samples were collected, and the concentrations of 18 individual bile acids in the serum were accurately quantitated using tandem mass spectrometry. The concentration difference of bile acid were compared between different genders and to explore the correlation between age and bile acid levels. Used the Mann-Whitney U test for intergroup comparison and Spearman test to correlation analysis. Results: A total of 245 health children with a age of 10 (8, 12) years including 125 boys and 120 girls. There were no significant differences in levels of total bile acids, primary and secondary bile acids, free and conjugated bile acids between the two gender groups (all P>0.05). The serum concentrations of ursodeoxycholic acid and glycoursodeoxycholic acid in girls were significantly higher than those in boys (199.0 (66.9, 276.5) vs. 154.7 (49.3, 205.0) nmol/L, 274.0 (64.8, 308.0) vs. 181.0 (43.8, 209.3) nmol/L, Z=2.06, 2.71, both P<0.05). The serum taurolithocholic acid in both boys and girls were positively correlated with age (r=0.31, 0.32, both P<0.05). The serum chenodeoxycholic acid and glycochenodeoxycholic acid in the boys group were positively correlated with age (r=0.20, 0.23, both P<0.05), whereas the serum tauroursodeoxycholic acid in the girls group was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.27, P<0.05), and the serum cholic acid was positively correlated with age (r=0.34, P<0.05). Conclusions: The total bile acid levels are relatively stable in healthy children in Zhejiang province. However, individual bile acids showed gender differences and were correlated with age.
Humans ; Child ; Female ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Hospitals, Pediatric ; Laboratories

Objective: To explore the effect of kynurenine pathway on the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC). Methods: Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 19 patients with periodontitis (periodontitis group) and 19 periodontally healthy individuals (health group) in Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University from June to October of 2022. Contents of kynurenine and the metabolites in saliva samples were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The expressions of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) were further detected by immunohistochemistry in gingival tissues. The PDLSC used in this study were isolated from extracted teeth for orthodontic treatment in Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University from July to November of 2022. Experiments were then conducted using the cells by incubating with (kynurenine group) or without kynurenine (control group) in vitro. Seven days later, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and assays of ALP activity were performed. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was utilized to detect the expressions of osteogenic related genes ALP, osteocalcin (OCN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), collagen type-Ⅰ (COL-Ⅰ) as well as the kynurenine pathway-associated genes AhR, cytochrome P450 family (CYP) 1A1, CYP1B1. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of RUNX2, osteopontin (OPN) and AhR proteins on day 10 and alizarin red staining was performed to observe the formation of mineral nodules on day 21 in control group and kynurenine group. Results: Salivary concentrations of kynurenine [8.26 (0, 19.60) nmol/L] and kynurenic acid [11.4 (3.34, 13.52) nmol/L] were significantly higher in the periodontitis group than in the health group [0.75(0, 4.25) nmol/L, 1.92(1.34, 3.88) nmol/L] (Z=-2.84, P=0.004; Z=-3.61, P<0.001). The expression levels of IDO (18.33±2.22) and AhR (44.14±13.63) in gingival tissues of periodontitis patients were significantly higher than that of the health group (12.21±2.87, 15.39±5.14) (t=3.38, P=0.015; t=3.42, P=0.027). In vitro, the ALP activity of PDLSC in the kynurenine group (291.90±2.35) decreased significantly compared with the control group (329.30±19.29) (t=3.34, P=0.029). The mRNA expression levels of ALP, OCN and RUNX2 in the kynurenine group (0.43±0.12, 0.78±0.09, 0.66±0.10) were decreased compared with the control group (1.02±0.22, 1.00±0.11, 1.00±0.01) (t=4.71, P=0.003; t=3.23, P=0.018; t=6.73, P<0.001), while the levels of AhR and CYP1A1 were increased in the kynurenine group (1.43±0.07, 1.65±0.10) compared with those in the control group (1.01±0.12, 1.01±0.14) (t=5.23, P=0.006; t=6.59, P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in COL-Ⅰ and CYP1B1 mRNA levels between groups. The protein levels of OPN, RUNX2 (0.82±0.05, 0.87±0.03) were reduced and that of AhR (1.24±0.14) was increased in the kynurenine group compared with those in the control group (1.00±0.00, 1.00±0.00, 1.00±0.00) (t=6.79, P=0.003; t=7.95, P=0.001; t=3.04, P=0.039). Conclusions: Over-activated kynurenine pathway in periodontitis patients can promote upregulation of AhR and suppress the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSC.

Objective:To analyze the coronary angiographic (CAG) characteristics of coronary artery lesion (CAL) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD), and to clarify the necessity of CAG in the diagnosis and treatment of KD combined with CAL in children.Methods:It was a retrospective study to analyze the clinical data, electrocardiogram, echocardiography, time and findings of CAG in children with KD and CAL who underwent CAG in Shanghai Children′s Medical Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2013 to August 2022.The distribution, type, severity, and prognosis of CAL were analyzed.Results:A total of 117 children with KD and CAL were included in the analysis.The onset age of KD was from 2 months to 12.8 years old, and the age of performing CAG was from 8 months to 18.1 years old.A total of 234 coronary artery lesions were detected in 117 cases.Among them, CAL in the right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending branch (LAD), left main coronary artery and left circumflex artery were detected in 96 branches(41.1%), 78 branches(33.3%), 44 branches(18.8%), and 16 branches(6.8%), respectively.Unilateral coronary artery involvement was detected in 43 cases (36.8%), of which LAD was the dominant; while bilateral involvement was detected in 74 cases (63.2%), among which, LAD and RCA were the most involved arteries.Stratified by the degree of coronary involvement, large coronary aneurysms and severe coronary stenosis were most frequently occurred in the RCA and LAD.In contrast, 10 cases (13.6%), 20 cases (24.3%), 55 cases (45.8%) and 37 cases (67.3%) of intraluminal lesions were found in small, medium and large coronary aneurysms, and stenosis or occlusion, respectively.The incidence of intraluminal lesions tended to be higher in the site of severe lesions.CAG showed stenosis or occlusion in a total of 55 cases, and collateral circulation at varying degrees was found in cases of severe stenosis or occlusion.Conclusions:CAL in children with KD are complex and varied.Although clinical symptoms, routine electrocardiogram and cardiac ultrasound may indicate severe CAL.Their applications are limited by the diagnosis of the type (especially stenosis), degree, and extent of CAL, as well as the detection of extracoronary lesions.CAG is of great significance to identify vascular lesions and guide clinical management of KD combined with CAL in children.