Vitiligo is a dermatological condition of autoimmune origin, characterized by the acquired loss of pigmentation in the skin and mucous membranes. Inflammatory cytokines, including interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-17, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-21, IL-33, phosphodiester enzyme (PDE)-4, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, play a crucial role in the progression of vitiligo. Among these, the IFN-γ/chemokine ligand (CXCL) 10 axis is particularly significant. In recent times, the advent of targeted therapeutic approaches, focusing on modulating cytokines and their corresponding receptors implicated in the pathogenesis of vitiligo, has assumed paramount significance. JAK inhibitors and their combination therapy with phototherapy have been clinically proven to have promising therapeutic prospects. This review undertakes a comprehensive appraisal of the therapeutic efficacy and tailored drug selection pertaining to diverse biological agents employed in the management of vitiligo, aiming to provide valuable insights for clinical therapeutic decisions.

Objective:To investigate clinical efficacy of narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) irradiation around vitiliginous lesions in the treatment of refractory vitiligo.Methods:A total of 126 patients with refractory vitiligo were retrospectively collected from Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2019 to November 2020. The patients were treated with NB-UVB irradiation around vitiliginous lesions after partial covering (perilesional irradiation group) , or conventional NB-UVB irradiation (conventional irradiation group) , twice a week for 3 consecutive months. After the treatment, the efficacy was evaluated. By using the propensity score method, the lesions in the 2 groups were matched at a ratio of 1∶1. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses and stratified analysis were used to analyze the clinical efficacy of NB-UVB irradiation around vitiliginous lesions in the treatment of refractory vitiligo.Results:Totally, there were 420 skin lesions in the perilesional irradiation group and 257 in the conventional irradiation group, and 190 lesions were enrolled into each group by propensity-score matching. Before and after the matching, the response rates were both significantly higher in the perilesional irradiation group (71.9%, 67.9%, respectively) than in the conventional irradiation group (31.9%, 30.0%, respectively, both P < 0.05) . After the propensity-score matching, both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed significant differences in the efficacy between the perilesional irradiation group and conventional irradiation group ( OR = 4.9, 95% CI: 3.2, 7.6, P < 0.001; OR = 12.0, 95% CI: 6.5, 22.3, P < 0.001, respectively) . Vitiliginous lesions were classified according to hair types and irradiation methods: before the matching, there were 187 vitiliginous lesions with white hairs treated with the conventional irradiation and 246 treated with the perilesional irradiation, and there were 70 vitiliginous lesions with black hairs treated with the conventional irradiation and 174 treated with the perilesional irradiation; after the matching, 140 vitiliginous lesions with white hairs and 50 with black hairs were enrolled into each radiation group. Stratified analysis showed that the response rates of vitiliginous lesions with white hairs were significantly higher in the perilesional irradiation group (77.6%, 72.8%, respectively) than in the conventional irradiation group before and after the matching (19.3%, 20.7%, respectively, both P < 0.01) ; for the vitiliginous lesions with black hairs, there was no significant difference in the response rate between the 2 groups ( P = 0.908) . Conclusion:The efficacy of NB-UVB irradiation around vitiliginous lesions is superior to the conventional irradiation in the treatment of refractory vitiligo, especially vitiliginous lesions with white hairs.

OBJECTIVE:To explore losses and gains (L&G) and L&G ratio induced by Essential Medicine System in a county. METHODS:By choosing a county in western China as sample area,field investigation was used to collect outpatient and inpatient visits,outpatient and inpatient income,drug income,total length of stay and medical insurance reimbursement criteria in primary medical institutions (township health centers,village health rooms) of the county during 2009-2015. By setting the year 2009 as the baseline year,the drug cost reimbursed by medical insurance was simulated and calculated when Essential Medicine System were not implemented;L&G and L&G ratio of medical insurance were calculated by comparing with actual drug cost reimbursed by medical insurance. RESULTS:The year 2012,in which the sample county fully implemented the Essential Medicine System was the turning year. Medical insurance funds lost in primary medical institutions of the county during 2010-2011(lost 437000,915000 yuan,respectively),but gained during 2012 to 2015(gained 199000,494000,858000,1290000 yuan, respectively);the L&G ratio increased from -0.67％ to 1.21％. For reimbursed outpatient drug cost and inpatient cost,L&G of medical insurance were different. For reimbursed drug cost of village health room and township health center,L&G of medical insurance were also different. CONCLUSIONS:The implementation of Essential Medicine System benefits to medical insurance within the county and Medical insurance funds can be saved.

Objective:To fully understand the maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 and explore the evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission of 2019-nCoV by analyzing clinical and laboratory information in peer-reviewed publications on COVID-19 in pregnant women.Methods:PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Academic Journals, and Wanfang Databases were searched to retrieve articles on COVID-19 in pregnancy published from December 1, 2019, to April 9, 2020. In addition, the World Health Organization COVID-19 Database and the reference lists in each included article were also searched. All included cases were positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid with maternal and neonatal outcomes regardless of delivery or not. Clinical manifestations, perinatal and neonatal outcomes were analyzed systematically.Results:This study reviewed 29 publications involving 146 pregnant women who tested positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid and their 116 newborns (including two twins). Five cases of severe COVID-19 and three cases of unidentified type that were admitted to ICU for treatment were severe symptoms, accounting for 5.5% (8/146) of all cases. Totally, 69.9% (102/146) of the women underwent cesarean section and 8.2% (12/146) gave birth vaginally. Thirty (20.5%) women continued their pregnancies. One case (0.7%, 1/146) terminated the pregnancy at 26 weeks of gestation due to bidirectional affective disorder and one (0.7%, 1/146) received artificial abortion at 6 weeks of gestation. Fever (58.2%, 85/146) and cough (32.9%, 48/146) were the most common symptoms. However, 15.8% (23/146) of the pregnant women were asymptomatic on admission and symptoms appeared or became worse after delivery in 20.5% (30/146). Lymphocytopenia (49.6%, 56/113) and elevated C-reactive protein (58.4%, 66/113) were the main laboratory findings. The most common computed tomography (CT) finding was bilateral multiple patchy ground-glass opacity in lungs (79.7%, 94/118). The outcomes of 92.2% (107/116) of the newborns were good, and the rest 7.8% (9/116) showed different abnormalities of varying degrees. Among the nine newborns, six showed different degrees of dyspnea, cyanosis and vomiting including one died of multiple organ failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation; one tested positive for viral nucleic acid 36 hours after birth; one was stillbirth due to unknown reason, but intrauterine vertical transmission was excluded; one neonatal death in a critically ill mother undergoing cesarean delivery.Conclusions:Pregnant women are less likely to progress to severe COVID-19 and mostly have a good outcome. Despite reports of adverse neonatal outcomes, evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission of 2019-nCoV remains insufficient.