Objective To investigate the changing patterns of serum IL-6, IL-10, IL-23 and osteopontin in patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis before and after treatment and their clinical implication.Methods A total of 43 patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis and 40 healthy controls were included in this study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted to measure the levels of serum IL-6, IL-10, IL-23 and osteopontin in healthy individuals and patients before and after anti-tuberculosis treatment for 2, 4 and 6 months.Results The levels of serum IL-6, IL-10, IL-23 and osteopontin in patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis were signiifcantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05). After treatment for two months, the levels of serum IL-6, IL-10, IL-23 and osteopontin signiifcantly decreased in patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (P<0.05). The serum IL-10 and osteopontin were nearly restored to normal levels in patients after four months treatment and there were no signiifcant difference compared with those in control group (P>0.05). The levels of serum IL-6 and IL-23 gradually decreased after treatment, and restored to normal at six months. There was no signiifcant difference compared with those in control group (P>0.05). Conclusions Serum IL-6, IL-10, IL-23 and osteopontin levels in patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis can be used as sensitive indicators for assessment of tuberculosis disease activity and therapeutic effect of anti-tuberculosis drugs.

A 3-week practice-oriented training course on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management was conducted in December 2020, 34 primary care physicians from township or community health service centers attended the course. The impact of the training course on the knowledge levels of COPD management was evaluated with a questionnaire survey, the questionnaire contained the knowledge of COPD and its management. The survey showed that before the training, the participants had low knowledge levels on the definition of COPD and its risk factors; 67.6% (23/34) were not aware of COPD-related guidelines and new developments, and 17.6%(6/34) had conducted COPD follow-up assessments, pulmonary rehabilitation, and health education; only 8.8% (3/34) had used the improved British Medical Research Council Dyspnea Index (mMRC) and the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT) for patient self-assessment; there was no pulmonary function instrument in their units, and only 3 doctors (8.8%) had previously participated in pulmonary function training and knew indications and contraindications of the pulmonary function test, and complete report interpretation; all participants were unable to use common inhalation devices and master inhalation techniques completely and correctly; 11.8% (4/34) had assessed patients′ handling inhalation devices and performing inhalation. After the training, the knowledge levels of COPD clinical features, lung function and inhalation technique were significantly improved, and the scores were significantly increased compared with those before the training ( P<0.001). The study shows that primary care physicians have insufficient knowledge and management skill of COPD. The practice-oriented training can significantly improve the knowledge and skills of primary care physician for COPD management in the community.

Objective:To investigate the effects of educational level on smoking cessation in patients with moderate to severe tobacco dependence, explore effective individualized smoking cessation methods, and increase smoking cessation rate.Methods:A total of 480 patients with moderate to severe tobacco dependence who were willing to quit smoking and received treatment in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital from January to December 2020 were included in this study. They were divided into four groups ( n = 120/group) according to their educational level: group A (elementary school and below), group B (junior high school and senior high school), group C (technical secondary school or college), and group D (university and above). All patients were randomly assigned to undergo "5A" intervention alone or "5A" intervention combined with varenicline intervention (combined intervention). Patients' awareness of the health risks of tobacco smoking was compared among the four groups. The smoking cessation rate measured at different time points was compared between different intervention strategies. Results:The scores of health risk of tobacco smoking in groups D, C, B, and A were (806.5 ± 35.7) points, (710.8 ± 26.2) points, (643.6 ± 43.4) points, and (512.4 ± 30.1) points, respectively. Patients with high education levels had high awareness of the health risk of tobacco smoking ( F = 1 543.26, P < 0.001). At 1, 3, and 6 months, the smoking cessation rate of combined intervention was higher than that of "5A" intervention alone in each group (group A: χ2 = 3.85, 4.23, 4.10, group B: χ2 = 4.30, 4.09, 4.60, group C: χ2 = 6.81, 4.30, 4.03, group D: χ2 = 6.71, 6.51, 4.73, all P < 0.05). The smoking cessation rate after 6 months of "5A" intervention alone or combined intervention in group D was 60.0% and 78.3% respectively, which were significantly higher than 41.7% and 60.0% in group C, 23.3% and 41.7% in group B, and 20.0% and 36.7% in group A ( χ2 = 26.59, 26.12, both P < 0.001). At different time points, the smoking cessation rates of the "5A" intervention alone in group D were significantly higher than those of combined intervention in groups A and B ( χ2 = 9.25, 25.04, 7.29, all P < 0.05). Conclusion:Awareness of the health risks of tobacco smoking is related to a patient's educational level, and affects smoking cessation. Individualized smoking cessation interventions based on a patient's educational level can increase the rate of smoking cessation.