Objective:The changes of serum inflammatory factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types were compared, and the characteristics and significance of inflammatory factors in COPD were discussed from the perspective of traditional Chinese and western medicine.Methods:A total of 100 patients with COPD who met the inclusion criteria and were admitted to Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from September 2021 to September 2022 were selected and divided into phlegm turbation obstructing lung group ( n=50) and lung and kidney qi deficiency group ( n=50) according to TCM syndrome types. Twenty healthy subjects in the same period were selected as control group. Serum levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and other inflammatory factors were compared in each group. Results:The MCP-1, IL-6, ESR, CRP, white blood cell count (WBC) and procalcitonin (PCT) of COPD patients in phlegm turbation obstructing lung group were significantly higher than those in lung and kidney qi deficiency group (all P<0.05). The WBC, MCP-1, MIP-1α, IL-6, ESR and CRP of COPD patients in the lung and kidney qi deficiency group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). In the phlegm turbation obstructing lung group, the MIP-1α, MCP-1, IL-6, ESR, CRP, WBC, and PCT were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Patients with COPD have inflammatory reactions, and the inflammatory reactions of patients with phlegm turbation obstructing lung syndrome are more obvious than those with lung and kidney qi deficiency syndrome. The inflammatory factors MCP-1, MIP-1α, IL-6, ESR, CRP, WBC, PCT and other indicators could be used to judge the degree of COPD inflammation, which had certain clinical guiding significance for different syndrome types of COPD patients.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) can significantly improve the outcomes of preterm infants. This study aimed to describe the ACS use rates among preterm infants admitted to Chinese neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and to explore perinatal factors associated with ACS use, using the largest contemporary cohort of very preterm infants in China. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled all infants born at 24 +0 to 31 +6 weeks and admitted to 57 NICUs of the Chinese Neonatal Network from January 1st, 2019 to December 30th, 2019. The ACS administration was defined as at least one dose of dexamethasone and betamethasone given before delivery. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to determine the association between perinatal factors and ACS usage. RESULTS: A total of 7828 infants were enrolled, among which 6103 (78.0%) infants received ACS. ACS use rates increased with increasing gestational age (GA), from 177/259 (68.3%) at 24 to 25 weeks' gestation to 3120/3960 (78.8%) at 30 to 31 weeks' gestation. Among infants exposed to ACS, 2999 of 6103 (49.1%) infants received a single complete course, and 33.4% (2039/6103) infants received a partial course. ACS use rates varied from 30.2% to 100% among different hospitals. Multivariate regression showed that increasing GA, born in hospital (inborn), increasing maternal age, maternal hypertension and premature rupture of membranes were associated with higher likelihood to receive ACS. CONCLUSIONS The use rate of ACS remained low for infants at 24 to 31 weeks' gestation admitted to Chinese NICUs, with fewer infants receiving a complete course. The use rates varied significantly among different hospitals. Efforts are urgently needed to propose improvement measures and thus improve the usage of ACS.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant ; Pregnancy ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use*