OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of different acupuncture methods in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) at different stages. METHODS: Thirty-two patients with AS were treated with acupuncture at ashi points (tendon focus), triple acupuncture method was used in the acute phase, accompanied needling method was used in the remission phase, once a day, 5 times a week for 4 weeks. The Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI) score, Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI) score and TCM symptom grade quantitative standard score before and after treatment were observed, and the efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: After treatment, the BASDAI score, BASFI score and TCM symptom grade quantitative standard score were reduced compared with those before treatment (P<0.01), the effective rate was 96.9% (31/32). CONCLUSION Different acupuncture methods in the treatment of AS at different stages could improve signs and symptoms, such as pain, activity limitation and morning stiffness.
Humans ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing/physiopathology* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Acupuncture Points ; Treatment Outcome

The small intestine is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption, immune regulation, and microbial balance. Its epithelial lining, containing specialized cells like Paneth cells and tuft cells, is crucial for maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Paneth cells produce antimicrobial peptides and growth factors that support microbial regulation and intestinal stem cells, while tuft cells act as chemosensors, detecting environmental changes and modulating immune responses. Along with immune cells such as intraepithelial lymphocytes, innate lymphoid cells, T cells, and macrophages, they form a strong defense system that protects the epithelial barrier. Disruptions in this balance contribute to chronic inflammation, microbial dysbiosis, and compromised barrier function-key features of inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and metabolic syndromes. Furthermore, dysfunctions in the small intestine and immune cells are linked to systemic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders. Recent research highlights promising therapeutic strategies, including modulation of epithelial and immune cell functions, probiotics, and gene editing to restore gut health and address systemic effects. This review emphasizes the pivotal roles of small intestinal epithelia and immune cells in maintaining intestinal homeostasis, their involvement in disease development, and emerging treatments for intestinal and systemic disorders.
Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa/cytology* ; Intestine, Small/cytology* ; Animals ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/immunology* ; Celiac Disease/immunology* ; Paneth Cells/immunology*

OBJECTIVE To synthesize a polymer PEI-ss-PEG2000-DSPE containing disulfide bond and to prepare as cationic micelle(P-ss-PD) based on branched polyethyleneimine(PEI). To investigate the ability of P-ss-PD micelle to reduce cytotoxicity and improve the transfection efficiency of antisense oligonucleotide(ASO) in human breast cancer cell lines, and to study the anti-tumor effect of P-ss-PD micelle in nude mice. METHODS PEI-ss-PEG2000-DSPE was synthesized by grafting PEG2000-DSPE onto branched PEI with disulfide bond as a connecting arm. P-ss-PD micelle was prepared by ethanol injection method and P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex was obtained by combining P-ss-PD micelle with ASO. The particle size and zeta potential of P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex at various mass ratios were determined by laser particle size analyzer. Agarose gel retardation assay was used to investigate the binding degree of P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex and determine the optimal mass ratio. At the same time, the reduction responsive ability of P-ss-PD micelle was investigated. The cytotoxicity of P-ss-PD micelle was detected by CCK8 kit. The transfection efficiency of P-ss-PD micelle was investigated by flow cytometry and high content cell imaging analysis system in MDA-MB-231 cells. The anti-tumor effect of P-ss-PD micelle was investigated by tumor-bearing nude mice models. RESULTS When the mass ratio was 300∶1, the particle size of P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex was the smallest and had a good stability. The average particle size was (58.90 ± 4.08)nm, the average zeta potential was (16.80 ± 1.23)mV, and the morphology was uniform spherical. P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex had the reduction responsive ability and could release ASO under highly reductive conditions.In vitro, compared with unmodified branched PEI, the cytotoxicity of P-ss-PD micelle was significantly reduced and the transfection efficiency was significantly increased.In vivo, the tumor growth inhibition rate of P-ss-PD/ASO nanocomplex in tumor-bearing nude mice was more than 50%. CONCLUSION The P-ss-PD micelle prepared in this study is a kind of low toxicity and high transfection efficiency non-viral vector, which has the characteristics of reduction responsive releasing, and shows a promising application in ASO drug delivery.

Objective:To describe the epidemiological characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in preschool children and explore the risk factors for severe pneumonia.Methods:Epidemiological data of 279 preschool children with RSV infection were investigated. The children were screened for severe pneumonia and separated into ordinary and severe types. General data and laboratory test data from both groups were compared, and binary logistic regression model analysis was applied to determine the risk factors for severe pneumonia.Results:Preschool children with RSV infection were mostly male (63.08%), <6 months old (65.95%) and had poor living environment (53.05%), with main symptoms of cough (91.04%) and wheezing (69.18%), the lung auscultation was mainly characterized by wheezing (86.74%), and imaging findings were mainly patchy shadows (76.34%), the onset season was concentrated in autumn (31.18%) and winter (43.37%). The detection rate of severe pneumonia in 279 pediatric patients was 20.27% (56/279). The proportions of onset season being autumn or winter, low birth weight infants, history of respiratory infections within 3 months, delayed treatment, neutrophils count <10×10 9/L, C-reactive protein≥10 mg/L, procalcitonin≥1.5 ng/mL, albumin<30 g/L, CD4 + /CD8 + <1.2 in the severe types were higher than those in the normal types ( P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the onset season was autumn or winter ( OR=2.316, 95% CI: 1.235-4.345), low birth weight infants ( OR=2.679, 95% CI: 1.442-4.977), history of respiratory infections within 3 months ( OR=2.815, 95% CI: 1.539-5.148), delayed treatment ( OR=2.869, 95% CI: 1.581-5.206), low albumin<30 g/L ( OR=2.756, 95% CI: 1.495-5.080), and low CD4 + /CD8 + <1.2 ( OR=3.016, 95% CI: 1.695-5.366) were risk factors for severe RSV pneumonia in preschool children ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Autumn and winter, low birth weight infants, history of respiratory infections within 3 months, delayed treatment, low albumin, and low CD4 + /CD8 + are related to the occurrence of severe RSV pneumonia in preschool children. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the attention to the condition of preschool RSV infected children with the above risk factors, and actively intervene in controllable factors to reduce the risk of severe pneumonia.

This article provides an overview of metaverse medicine and summarizes the challenges faced by cancer patients, the applications and effects of metaverse medicine in this population, and the limitations and difficulties in clinical practice. These challenges include legal and ethical restrictions, as well as the need for further validation of clinical acceptability and feasibility. Researchers are encouraged to conduct extensive studies to refine the legal and regulatory frameworks, enhance the safety and adoption of metaverse medicine, and facilitate its localized development in cancer care.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (LEDVT) in patients with sepsis during hospitalization in intensive care unit (ICU), and to construct a nomogram prediction model of LEDVT in sepsis patients in the ICU based on the critical care scores combined with inflammatory markers, and to validate its effectiveness in early prediction.Methods:726 sepsis patients admitted to the ICU of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from January 2015 to December 2021 were retrospectively included as the training set to construct the prediction model. In addition, 213 sepsis patients admitted to the ICU of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from January 2022 to June 2023 were retrospectively included as the validation set to verify the performance of the prediction model. Clinical data of patients were collected, such as demographic information, vital signs at the time of admission to the ICU, underlying diseases, past history, various types of scores within 24 hours of admission to the ICU, the first laboratory indexes of admission to the ICU, lower extremity venous ultrasound results, treatment, and prognostic indexes. Lasso regression analysis was used to screen the influencing factors for the occurrence of LEDVT in sepsis patients, and the results of Logistic regression analysis were synthesized to construct a nomogram model. The nomogram model was evaluated by receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve), calibration curve, clinical impact curve (CIC) and decision curve analysis (DCA).Results:The incidence of LEDVT after ICU admission was 21.5% (156/726) in the training set of sepsis patients and 21.6% (46/213) in the validation set of sepsis patients. The baseline data of patients in both training and validation sets were comparable. Lasso regression analysis showed that seven independent variables were screened from 67 parameters to be associated with the occurrence of LEDVT in patients with sepsis. Logistic regression analysis showed that the age [odds ratio ( OR) = 1.03, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.01 to 1.04, P < 0.001], body mass index (BMI: OR = 1.05, 95% CI was 1.01 to 1.09, P = 0.009), venous thromboembolism (VTE) score ( OR = 1.20, 95% CI was 1.11 to 1.29, P < 0.001), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT: OR = 0.98, 95% CI was 0.97 to 0.99, P = 0.009), D-dimer ( OR = 1.03, 95% CI was 1.01 to 1.04, P < 0.001), skin or soft-tissue infection ( OR = 2.53, 95% CI was 1.29 to 4.98, P = 0.007), and femoral venous cannulation ( OR = 3.72, 95% CI was 2.50 to 5.54, P < 0.001) were the independent influences on the occurrence of LEDVT in patients with sepsis. The nomogram model was constructed by combining the above variables, and the ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the nomogram model for predicting the occurrence of LEDVT in patients with sepsis was 0.793 (95% CI was 0.746 to 0.841), and the AUC in the validation set was 0.844 (95% CI was 0.786 to 0.901). The calibration curve showed that its predicted probability was in good agreement with the actual probabilities were in good agreement, and both CIC and DCA curves suggested a favorable net clinical benefit. Conclusion:The nomogram model based on the critical illness scores combined with inflammatory markers can be used for early prediction of LEDVT in ICU sepsis patients, which helps clinicians to identify the risk factors for LEDVT in sepsis patients earlier, so as to achieve early treatment.

Endometriosis (EM) is a common gynecological disease in women of childbearing age, and its pathogenesis is currently not fully understood. EM are a chronic inflammatory response, and long-term inflammatory exudation can lead to the production of fibrotic adhesions. Inflammatory response and fibrosis formation are the main pathological features of EM, as well as the main causes of pain and infertility. Research has shown that there are certain differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in EM that participate in inflammation and fibrosis processes and play important regulatory roles. This article reviews the mechanism of miRNA in the inflammatory and fibrotic pathological processes of EM, aiming to find new directions and ideas for exploring the pathogenesis and diagnosis and treatment of EM.

Objective:To systematically evaluate qualitative studies on the perceptions and feelings of nursing staffs implementing neonatal palliative care, aiming to provide insights for advancing clinical practice in China.Methods:The databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and PsycINFO were included to retrieve the literature on the perceptions and feelings of nursing staffs from inception until March 28, 2024. The literature quality was assessed utilizing the Joanna Briggs Institute Australian Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care Quality Assessment Criteria for Qualitative Research (2016), and the findings were synthesized through Meta-integration techniques.Results:A total of 12 studies were included, yielding 46 themes were extracted; 8 categories were summarized and 3 synthesis results were obtained: nursing staffs experience both negative and positive aspects, the real-life challenges faced by nursing staffs in implementing neonatal palliative care, and the practical experiences and needs of nursing staffs regarding neonatal palliative care.Conclusions:It is crucial to continually address nursing staffs′ negative emotions and tackle challenges related to staffing, training, communication, and ethical dilemmas to ensure appropriate end-of-life symptom management in neonatal palliative care.

Objective To observe the value of 18F-FDG PET/CT semi-quantitative parameters for predicting spread through air spaces(STAS)of clinical stage Ⅰa—Ⅲa lung adenocarcinoma.Methods Data of 85 patients with clinical stage Ⅰa—Ⅲ a lung adenocarcinoma who underwent preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into positive group(n=23)or negative group(n=62)according to whether pathology showed STAS or not.Clinical and PET/CT data were compared between groups,and logistic analysis was performed to explore the efficacy of each parameter for predicting STAS.Results Significant differences of gender,carcinoma embryonic antigen,clinical stage,pathological grade,micropapillary growth and proportion were found between groups(all P＜0.05).The maximum,the mean,the peak standard uptake value(SUVmax,SUVmean,SUVpeak),as well as the maximum,the mean and the peak standard uptake value normalized by lean body mass(SULmax,SULmean,SULpeak),also the total lesion glycolysis(TLG)in positive group were all significantly higher than those in negative group(all P＜0.05).Patients'gender,proportion of micropapillary growth,SUVmax and SULmax were all independent risk factors of STAS of clinical stage Ⅰa—Ⅲa lung adenocarcinoma.The area under the curve(AUC)of the above parameters for predicting STAS was 0.666,0.912,0.839 and 0.842,respectively,and of the combination was 0.957.Conclusion 18 F-FDG PET/CT semi-quantitative parameters SUVmax and SULmax were helpful for predicting STAS of clinical stage Ⅰa—Ⅲ a lung adenocarcinoma,and further combination of gender and proportion of micropapillary growth could improve diagnostic efficacy.

Objective:To explore the clinical phenotype and genetic characteristics of children with childhood absence epilepsy caused by KMT2E gene variants. Methods:The clinical data of 1 case of KMT2E gene variant-associated childhood absence epilepsy admitted to the Department of Pediatric Neurology of Linyi People′s Hospital in January 2023 were collected and followed up, and the child and her family were genetically examined by using whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing, and the pathogenicity of mutation loci was analyzed. The Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, Human Gene Mutation Database, PubMed database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang database were consulted with the search term " KMT2E" to summarize the clinical phenotype and genetics of the children with epilepsy associated with KMT2E gene variant. Results:The child is a female, presented with typical absence seizures at the age of 3 years and 8 months, with normal development, video electroencephalogram showing widespread spikes and slow waves around 3 Hz accompanied by typical absence seizures. Seizures decreased after valproic acid was applied at full dosage, and were controlled after combination with lamotrigine. Her clinical diagnosis of childhood absence epilepsy was made. The results of whole-exome sequencing showed that the child had a de novo frameshift variant c.2404dup (p.Arg802Lysfs *8) in the KMT2E gene (NM_182931.3), which had not yet been reported domestically or internationally. The c.2404dup variant was interpreted as a pathogenic variant (PVS1+PS2_Supporting+PM2_Supporting) according to the American Society of Medical Genetics and Genomics variant classification criteria and guidelines. Her parents, older brother and younger sister did not carry the variant and had a normal clinical phenotype. A total of 22 patients with epilepsy associated with KMT2E gene variants were retrieved (including this case, a total of 23 cases), including 10 females and 13 males. All of them were autosomal dominant inheritance, with 20 minor variations, including 8 frameshift variants, 7 missense variants, 2 splicing variants, 2 nonsense variants, 1 synonymous variant, and the remaining 3 cases had large fragment deletions (including 2 cases of the whole gene). Clinical manifestations mainly included epileptic seizures (5 cases of absence seizures, 7 cases of focal seizures with or without secondary tonic-clonic seizures, 9 cases of tonic-clonic seizures, 1 case of spasm seizures, 1 case of myoclonic seizures, tonic seizures, and atonic seizures, 3 cases of epileptic status, and 5 cases of refractory epilepsy, with the onset age of epilepsy ranging from neonatal to adolescence), mental retardation (21/23 cases, 4 mild, 5 moderate, and 5 severe), peculiar facial features (11/23), and autism (3/23), etc. Conclusion:KMT2E gene variant-associated epilepsy is an autosomal dominant disorder with a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes, and the novel variant c.2404dup in the KMT2E gene identified in the present study can lead to childhood absence epilepsy, which enriches the spectrum of mutations and clinical phenotype of the KMT2E gene.