Objective:To investigate the effects and its mechanism of chronic unpredictable stress on intestine and liver injuries in rats, and explore the possibility of the existence of brain-gut-liver axis.Methods:Twenty male SD rats were randomly divided into control group and stress group (with 10 in each group). The rats in the stress group were stimulated by chronic unpredictable stress for 4 weeks to prepare the chronic stress model. The rats in the control group were fed normally without stress stimulation. After modeling, ten rats in the control group and seven rats in the stress group were included. The depressive behavior of the two groups was evaluated by sugar water preference experiment. Then the rats were sacrificed. The diversity of gut flora in intestinal feces was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The pathological injuries of ileum and liver were detected by HE staining. The expressions of occludin in ileum and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in liver were detected by immunohistochemistry. The expression of TLR4 protein in liver tissue was detected by Western blot. The level of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rat portal vein serum was detected by AZO chromogenic limulus test and blood biochemical method was used to detect liver function.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 software, and t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between the two groups. Using STAMP software, Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to analyze the difference in bacterial abundance between the two groups. Results:The consumption of sugar water ((7.86±0.90)ml) and the preference rate of sugar water ((43.06±5.65)%) in the stress group were lower than those in the control group ((15.10±1.51)ml, (76.81±6.44)%), and the difference were statistically significant ( t=11.33, 11.16, both P<0.01). Chronic stress caused pathological damage to rat ileum tissue. Compared with the control group, the ileum villi of rats in the chronic stress group were longer ((448.93±12.71)μm, (497.12±16.72)μm, t=-5.88, P<0.01) and thicker ((81.99±16.54)μm, (133.93±6.78)μm, t=-7.12, P<0.01), and the expression of occludin was significantly down-regulated ((0.236±0.011), (0.130±0.026), t=9.12 , P<0.01), the LPS level increased significantly ((18.83±2.62)EU/L, (38.64±2.51)EU/L, t=-5.79, P<0.01). The Beta diversity of rat intestinal flora changed under chronic stress, and the abundance of WPS-2 phylum in intestinal tract of rats in stress group was higher than that in control group ( t=2.76, P<0.05). Chronic stress caused pathological damage to the liver tissue of rats. Compared with the control group, the expression of TLR4 protein in the liver tissue of the chronic stress group increased ((0.169±0.014), (0.475±0.034), Z=-2.37, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the ALT ((39.7±6.2)U/L, (82.9±43.1)U/L, Z=-2.35, P<0.05) and AST((130.9±28.9)U/L, (472.7±263.3)U/L, Z=-2.64, P<0.05) levels of the chronic stress group increased, especially in AST. Conclusion:Chronic stress cause synchronous damage to the intestine and liver in rats. The mechanism may be related to the results caused by chronic stress such as the changes of the diversity of intestinal flora, the increasing of intestinal permeability, the action of LPS translocated through portal vein blood on TLR4 in liver.

Objective:Using 24-hour urinary sodium excretion (24h-UNa) as the surrogate measure of sodium intake, to evaluate the joint association of 24h-UNa and serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OHD) levels with the risk of albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods:This retrospective study included 670 hospitalized T2DM cases in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2018 to October 2021. Patients were divided into the albuminuria-positive group or negative-group according to the level of 24-hour urinary albumin excretion (24h-UAE); They were also divided into the high-sodium group or low-sodium group according to the level of 24h-UNa; Patients were divided into the low-VD group or high-VD group according to the level of 25-OHD. Combining 24h-UNa and 25-OHD, the patients were further divided into four groups: high-VD low-sodium group ( n=85), high-VD high-sodium group ( n=122), low-VD low-sodium group ( n=248), and low-VD high-sodium group ( n=215). The effect of 24h-UNa and 25-OHD association on albuminuria was analyzed by binary regression. Results:There were significant differences in 24h-UAE level among the four groups ( P<0.01), the level of 24h-UAE in the low-VD high-sodium group was significantly higher than that in low-VD low-sodium group, high-VD low-sodium group, and high-VD high-sodium group [39.00(13.00, 319.00)mg/24 h vs 22.00(10.00, 99.00)mg/24 h, 22.00(9.00, 72.50)mg/24 h, 22.45(9.69, 72.75)mg/24 h; P=0.047, P=0.019, P=0.030]. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between 24h-UNa and 24h-UAE in the low-VD group ( P=0.017), but not in the high-VD group ( P=0.411). Binary regression analyses showed that both 24h-UNa ( P=0.017) and 25-OHD( P=0.023) were independent risk factors for positive albuminuria in patients with T2DM. The risk of positive albuminuria in the low-VD high-sodium group was 1.789 times higher than that in the high-VD low-sodium group ( P=0.037). Conclusion:24h-UAE in T2DM patients was affected by the combination of 24h-UNa and 25-OHD. A low level of 25-OHD increased the risk of albuminuria in high sodium intake T2DM patients.

Objective:Through comprehensive analysis of symptoms and signs, biochemistry, imaging, and dynamic tests, to explore the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenoma(TSH adenoma) and syndrome of resistance to thyroid hormone(RTH).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from 14 patients who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2016 to September 2022, exhibiting elevated levels of free thyroxine(FT4) and free triiodothyronine(FT3) in the presence of increased TSH.Results:There were 7 cases of TSH adenoma and 7 cases of RTH, with the average age of diagnosis at 40.0 years and 26.6 years, respectively. Thirteen patients showed thyrotoxicosis or occasional palpitation, some with pituitary occupancy manifestations or abnormal growth and development; One patient presented with neck thickening. Sex hormone binding globulin was elevated in 3 cases of TSH adenoma. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging showed that all 7 cases of TSH adenoma were macroadenomas and 1 case of RTH was microadenoma. The octreotide suppression test in 13 patients was inhibited, but there was a significant difference in the inhibition rate of 24 h/2 h TSH inhibition rate of TSH adenoma and RTH, ranging from 46.6% to 83.9% and 4.6% to 28.8% respectively. Six cases of RTH had thyroid hormone receptor β mutation.Conclusion:Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of thyrotropin is a rare condition, mainly including TSH adenoma and RTH. The diagnosis and differentiation of the two conditions require comprehensive assessment incorporating family history, symptoms and signs, laboratory tests, dynamic test, and genetic test. Among these, the 24 h/2 h TSH inhibition rate of octreotide suppression test can effectively distinguish TSH adenoma from RTH.

BackgroundAnxiety exists as a prevalent psychological problem among college students nowadays， which brings negative influence on their normal life. Mobile phone addiction and loneliness both have an impact on college students' anxiety. However， the acting path of loneliness between mobile phone addiction and anxiety requires further exploration. ObjectiveTo analyze the relationships among mobile phone addiction， loneliness and anxiety in college students， and to explore the acting path of loneliness between mobile phone addiction and anxiety. MethodsOn December 21， 2023， 1 400 college students from a university in Henan Province were selected， in accordance with the simple random sampling method， for investigation of this study. Questionnaire survey was conducted by using several scales including Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale （MPATS）， Self-rating Anxiety Scale （SAS） and University of California Los Angeles-Loneliness Scale （UCLA-LS）. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between the scores of each scale above， and SPSS macro program Process 3.3 was used to test the mediation effect. ResultsA total of 1 239 valid questionnaires were collected， with an effective recovery rate of 88.50%. The MPATS score of college students was positively correlated with both SAS and UCLA-LS scores （r=0.474， 0.387， P<0.01）， and UCLA-LS score was positively correlated with SAS score （r=0.541， P<0.01）. The indirect effect of loneliness between mobile phone addiction and anxiety was 0.160 （95% CI： 0.118~0.173）， accounting for 33.97% of the total effect. ConclusionMobile phone addiction can positively predict anxiety among college students， and loneliness may act as the mediation path between mobile phone addiction and anxiety among college students.

Objective:To determine the erythromycin resistance of Bordetella pertussis isolates and their ptxP1 and ptxP3 phenotypic composition and compare clinical manifestations of children with pertussis caused by the two types of strains. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study, the pertussis cases diagnosed using bacterial culture from January 2019 to December 2022 in Beijing Children′s Hospital and the First People′s Hospital of Wuhu were collected.Any suspected Bordetella pertussis colonies were identified by the slide agglutination test.The susceptibility of isolates to erythromycin was detected by the E-test and K-B test.The ptxP gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced to determine its genotype. t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were use to statistical analysis. Results:A total of 192 strains of Bordetella pertussis were identified, including 188 (97.9%) erythromycin-resistant strains.Among the 188 strains, 30.3%(57/188) belonged to the ptxP1 genotype and 69.7%(131/188) belonged to the ptxP3 genotype.In children aged below 1 year old, the incidence of paroxysmal cough caused by infection with the ptxP3 strain was higher than that with the ptxP1 strain (57.1% vs.29.4%, P<0.05), and children infected with the ptxP3 strain were more likely to develop apnea or asphyxia (23.8% vs.17.6%), post-tussive vomiting (44.4% vs.32.4%), whooping cough (72.0% vs.50.0%) and pneumonia or bronchitis (85.7% vs.73.5%) compared to those infected with the ptxP1 strain, but the differences were not statistically significant(all P>0.05). In children aged 1 year old and above, the white blood cell count of children infected with the ptxP1 strain was higher than that of infections with the ptxP3 strain [13.5(9.9, 24.5)×10 9/L, 10.3 (7.0, 16.4)×10 9/L, P<0.05], and children infected with the ptxP1 strain were more likely to contract other pathogen infections than those infected with the ptxP3 strain (17.4% vs.4.4%, P>0.05). Conclusions:ptxP3 erythromycin-resistant Bordetella pertussis has become the main pathogen of pertussis.Infants with pertussis caused by the ptxP3 erythromycin-resistant strain show more significant manifestations and a higher possibility of severe symptoms than those infected with the ptxP1 erythromycin-resistant strain.

Group A Streptococci(GAS)can cause multiple diseases such as pharyngotonsillitis, scarlet fever, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome(STSS), necrotizing fasciitis, and so on, making it extremely difficult to monitor all GAS infections.Developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have classified invasive GAS diseases/infections(iGAS) or certain specific types, such as STSS, as notifiable diseases.China only includes scarlet fever caused by GAS infections in the legal infectious diseases.Although case reports or clinical studies of STSS and necrotizing fasciitis in China can be found, there is a lack of investigation and summary on iGAS, and there are few materials to introduce its definition and diagnostic criteria.Based on a recently diagnosed typical case, this paper intends to introduce the definition and diagnostic criteria of iGAS adopted in the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries, as well as the valuable early manifestations and risk factors, and the incidence of iGAS.Given the epidemiological changes in GAS infections in recent years, this paper also emphasizes the importance of paying attention to GAS infections, especially iGAS, aiming to arouse the attention of China′s clinical doctors and urge them to carry out research on this group of diseases.

It is difficult to accurately distinguish pharyngitis caused by Group A Streptococcus(GAS) from other pathogens according to the clinical presentation alone, which cannot effectively guide the rational use of antimicrobials.The pharyngeal swab culture, rapid antigen detection test, nucleic acid test, and blood test can help definitively diagnose GAS pharyngitis.However, there are differences in different guidelines on who the laboratory test methods are intended for, interpretation of laboratory test results and so on.This article summarizes and analyses the laboratory diagnostic modalities and their characteristics, as well as recommendations for GAS pharyngitis in different guidelines to provide references for the clinical diagnosis, antimicrobial treatment, and further study of GAS pharyngitis.