AIM:To explore the roles and associations of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha(HNF4A)and mu-protocadherin(MUCDHL)in the kidney of diabetic mice.METHODS:(1)A cohort of six 12-week-old db/m mice and six db/db mice were selected and maintained on a standard diet until 16 weeks.The protein levels of fibronectin(FN),collagen type III(Col-III),E-cadherin,α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),HNF4A,Snail and MUCDHL in renal tissues were scrutinized using Western blot.Immunohistochemical staining was conducted to observe the distribution and expres-sion of FN,HNF4A and MUCDHL.(2)Mouse renal tubular epithelial cells(mRTEC)were cultured in vitro and catego-rized into groups:normal glucose(NG)group,high glucose(HG)group,overexpression control groups(NG+vector and HG+vector),overexpression groups(NG+OE-MUCDHL,HG+OE-MUCDHL,NG+OE-HNF4A and HG+OE-HNF4A),knockdown control groups(NG+control and HG+control),and knockdown groups(NG+si-MUCDHL,HG+si-MUCDHL,NG+si-HNF4A and HG+si-HNF4A).The relevant protein levels were also detected by Western blot.RESULTS:(1)In db/db group,elevated body weight,blood glucose and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio(UACR)indicated significant re-nal injury.Compared with db/m group,the mice in db/db group exhibited increased expression of FN,Col-III,α-SMA and Snail,and decreased expression of E-cadherin,HNF4A and MUCDHL.MUCDHL was predominantly expressed in the apical membrane of renal tubular epithelial cells,FN in the tubular mesenchyme,and HNF4A in the plasma and nu-cleus of renal tubular cells.(2)In HG group,there was an up-regulation in the expression of fibrosis-related proteins and a down-regulation in the expression of E-cadherin,HNF4A and MUCDHL compared with NG group.Overexpression of MUCDHL led to a decrease in the expression of FN,Col-III,α-SMA and Snail proteins,an increase in the expression of E-cadherin and MUCDHL proteins,and unaltered expression of HNF4A.Knockdown of MUCDHL resulted in a reversal of the aforementioned effects,with HNF4A expression remaining unaltered.Overexpression of HNF4A led to an increased ex-pression of MUCDHL,and the expression changes of the remaining indicators were consistent with the overexpression of MUCDHL.Knockdown of HNF4A reversed the aforementioned effects.MUCDHL may represent a downstream target gene of HNF4A.CONCLUSION:The diminished expression of HNF4A and MUCDHL in the renal tubules of diabetic mice implies their involvement in the progression of renal fibrosis in diabetic kidney disease(DKD).HNF4A may potentially impede the progression of renal fibrosis in DKD by up-regulating the expression of MUCDHL.

Objective To explore the correlation between serum levels of miR-193a-3p,activated transcription factor 5(ATF5),clinicopathological characteristics and chemotherapy efficacy in patients with triple negative breast cancer(TNBC).Methods A total of 120 patients with TNBC admitted to our hospital were collected as the research group.In the same period,120 cases with benign breast disease in our hospital were selected as the control group.Serum levels of miR-193a-3p and ATF5 were detected,and the relationship between them and clinicopathological characteristics were detected in two groups.According to the therapeutic effect,TNBC patients were divided into the treatment ineffective group(n=50)and the treatment effective group(n=70).The expression levels of miR-193a-3p and ATF5 were compared between the two groups,and factors affecting the chemotherapy efficacy of TNBC patients were analyzed.Results Compared with before chemotherapy,the serum miR-193a-3p level increased and ATF5 level decreased in TNBC patients after chemotherapy(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the serum miR-193a-3p level of TNBC patients decreased in the research group before chemotherapy,and ATF5 level increased(P＜0.05).The expression level of miR-193a-3p was lower and the expression level of ATF5 was higher in patients with tumor diameter≥3 cm,lymph node metastasis,low histological grade,clinical stage Ⅲ and Ki-67＞30%(P＜0.05).In TNBC patients,compared with the treatment effective group,patients in the treatment ineffective group showed a decreased serum miR-193a-3p level and an increased ATF5 level(P＜0.05).Lower level of miR-193a-3p,higher level of ATF5,lymph node metastasis,tumor diameter≥3 cm,low histological grade,and TNM stage Ⅲ were risk factors affecting the efficacy of chemotherapy in TNBC patients(P＜0.05).Conclusion Low level of miR-193a-3p and high level of ATF5 in the serum of TNBC patients are risk factors for chemotherapy efficacy.

Objective:To analyze the status of respiratory pathogen detection and the clinical features in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP). Methods:A prospective, multicenter study was conducted to collect clinical data, including medical history, laboratory examinations and multiplex PCR tests of children diagnosed with MPP from 4 hospitals in China between November 15 th and December 20 th, 2023. The multiplex PCR results and clinical characteristics of MPP children in different regions were analyzed. The children were divided into severe and mild groups according to the severity of the disease. Patients in the severe group were further divided into Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) alone and Multi-pathogen co-detection groups based on whether other pathogens were detected besides MP, to analyze the influence of respiratory pathogen co-detection rate on the severity of the disease. Mann-Whitney rank sum test and Chi-square test were used to compare data between independent groups. Results:A total of 298 children, 136 males and 162 females, were enrolled in this study, including 204 children in the severe group with an onset age of 7.0 (6.0, 8.0) years, and 94 children in the mild group with an onset age of 6.5 (4.0, 7.8) years. The level of C-reactive protein, D-dimer, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly higher (10.0 (5.0, 18.0) vs. 5.0 (5.0, 7.5) mg/L, 0.6 (0.4, 1.1) vs. 0.5 (0.3, 0.6) mg/L, 337 (286, 431) vs. 314 (271, 393) U/L, Z=2.02, 2.50, 3.05, all P<0.05), and the length of hospitalization was significantly longer in the severe group compared with those in mild group (6.0 (6.0, 7.0) vs. 5.0 (4.0, 6.0) d, Z=4.37, P<0.05). The time from onset to admission in severe MPP children was significantly shorter than that in mild MPP children (6.0 (5.0, 9.5) vs. 9.0 (7.0, 13.0) d, Z=2.23, P=0.026). All patients completed the multiplex PCR test, with 142 cases (47.7%) MPP children detected with 21 pathogens including adenovirus 25 cases (8.4%), human coronavirus 23 cases (7.7%), rhinovirus 21 cases (7.0%), Streptococcus pneumoniae 21 cases (7.0%), influenza A virus 18 cases (6.0%). The pathogens with the highest detection rates in Tianjin, Shanghai, Wenzhou and Chengdu were Staphylococcus aureus at 10.7% (8/75), adenovirus at 13.0% (10/77), adenovirus at 15.3% (9/59), and both rhinovirus and Haemophilus influenzae at 11.5% (10/87) each. The multi-pathogen co-detection rate in severe MPP children was significantly higher than that in mild MPP group (52.9% (108/204) vs. 36.2% (34/94), χ2=10.62, P=0.005). Among severe MPP children, there are 89 cases in the multi-pathogen co-detection group and 73 cases in the simple MPP group. The levels of LDH, D-dimer and neutrophil counts in the multi-pathogen co-detection group were significantly higher than those in the simple MPP group (348 (284, 422) vs. 307 (270, 358) U/L, 0.8 (0.5, 1.5) vs. 0.6 (0.4, 1.0) mg/L, 4.99 (3.66, 6.89)×10 9vs. 4.06 (2.91, 5.65)×10 9/L, Z=5.17, 4.99, 6.11, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The co-detection rate of respiratory pathogens, LDH and D-dimer in children with severe MPP were higher than those with mild MPP. Among severe MPP children the stress response of children in co-detection group was more serious than that of children with simple MPP.

Background::Clinical opportunistic screening is a cost-effective cancer screening modality. This study aimed to establish an easy-to-use diagnostic model serving as a risk stratification tool for identification of individuals with malignant gastric lesions for opportunistic screening.Methods::We developed a questionnaire-based diagnostic model using a joint dataset including two clinical cohorts from northern and southern China. The cohorts consisted of 17,360 outpatients who had undergone upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examination in endoscopic clinics. The final model was derived based on unconditional logistic regression, and predictors were selected according to the Akaike information criterion. External validation was carried out with 32,614 participants from a community-based randomized controlled trial.Results::This questionnaire-based diagnostic model for malignant gastric lesions had eight predictors, including advanced age, male gender, family history of gastric cancer, low body mass index, unexplained weight loss, consumption of leftover food, consumption of preserved food, and epigastric pain. This model showed high discriminative power in the development set with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.791 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.750–0.831). External validation of the model in the general population generated an AUC of 0.696 (95% CI: 0.570–0.822). This model showed an ideal ability for enriching prevalent malignant gastric lesions when applied to various scenarios.Conclusion::This easy-to-use questionnaire-based model for diagnosis of prevalent malignant gastric lesions may serve as an effective prescreening tool in clinical opportunistic screening for gastric cancer.

Objective:To evaluate whether index of microcirculatory resistance(IMR)is associated with left ventricular(LV)remodeling in acute anterior ST elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI)pa-tients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention(PPCI).Methods:This was a single-center retrospective cohort study.The patients with first anterior STEMI who received PPCI from January 2014 to August 2017 in Peking University Third Hospital was enrolled.After PPCI,IMR was measured immediately by using pressure/temperature guidewire.The success rate of IMR measurement was 100％.Also we collected some related clinical data from the medical records and laboratory results.Infarct size[assessed as creatine kinase(CK)peak],echocardiography at baseline and 1 year follow-up were as-sessed.LV adverse remodeling(LVAR)was defined as ≥20％increase in LV end-diastolic volume(LVEDV).Results:A total of forty-three patients were enrolled,with an average age of(58.7±12.4)years.The patients were divided into two groups as IMR ≤25 and IMR＞25 by normal values recommen-ded by previous literature.Compared with IMR ≤25 group,IMR＞25 group had a higher percentage of initial thrombolysis in myocardial infraction(TIMI)grade 0(95.7％vs.65.0％,P=0.029),higher serum CK peak value[4 090(383,15 833)vs.1 580(396,5 583),P=0.004].The IMR＞25 group suffered higher rates of ventricular aneurysm(30.4％vs.5.0％,P=0.021).There was no difference in LVEDV[(111.0±18.8)mL vs.(115.0±23.6)mL,P=0.503]between the two groups 1 day after MI,but after 1 year,LVEDV in IMR＞25 group was significantly higher than in IMR≤25 group[(141.5± 33.7)mLvs.(115.9±27.9)mL,P=0.018].The incidence of LVAR was more significant in IMR＞25 group(47.4％vs.11.8％,P=0.024).Binary Logistics regression showed that IMR[B=0.079,exp(B)(95％CI)=1.082(1.018-1.149),P=0.011]and serum triglyceride level[B=1.610,exp(B)(95％CI)=5.005(1.380-18.152),P=0.014]were the predictors of LVAR 1 year after MI.IMR had a good predictive value for LVAR 1 year after MI[area under the curve(AUC)=0.749,P=0.019],IMR＞29 was a good cutoff value with sensitivity 81.8％and specificity 68.0％.Conclusion:Our study elaborates that immediate measurement of IMR after PPCI in patients with STEMI can reflect the microvas-cular function.And IMR could be used as a quantitative biomarker to predict LVAR after STEMI.

Objective:To explore the prognostic impact of different intracranial radiotherapy modalities in patients with a limited number (≤10) of brain metastases from small cell lung cancer (SCLC-BM).Methods:The data of 143 cases with SCLC-BM that received intracranial radiotherapy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University in 2019-2022 were analyzed. The patients were grouped by radiotherapy modalities: whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT, 58 cases), WBRT combined with simultaneous integrated boost (WBRT+ SIB, 53 cases), and WBRT combined with sequential integrated boost (WBRT+ SEB, 32 cases). The overall survival (OS) and intracranial progression-free survival (IPFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazard model was used for prognostic analysis.Results:In the whole group, the median OS and IPFS were 11.9 and 9.9 months, and the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 49.7%, 15.3%, and 2.9%, respectively. The difference in OS among patients in the WBRT+ SIB, WBRT+ SEB, and WBRT groups was not significant (median OS: 13.0 months vs. 12.5 months vs. 11.2 months, P>0.05). The WBRT+ SIB and WBRT+ SEB groups were preferred over the WBRT group in terms of IPFS (median IPFS: 11.7 months vs. 10.4 months vs. 8.1 months, χ2=21.69, P<0.001). For patients with few brain metastases (≤3) analyzed separately, the WBRT+ SIB and WBRT+ SEB groups were preferred over the WBRT group in terms of OS and IPFS (median OS: 14.4 months vs. 13.7 months vs. 11.5 months, χ2=8.72, P=0.013; median IPFS: 12.6 months vs. 10.4 months vs. 8.9 months, χ2=12.37, P=0.002). Evaluation of the central nervous system as well as hematological acute radiological reactions reaching grade 2 and above showed no significant differences among the three groups ( P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that subsequent chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy were common independent influencing factors for patients′ OS and IPFS. Body mass index (BMI) level was an independent influencing factor for patients′ OS, and the number of brain metastases, lymph node metastasis, and radiotherapy modality were independent influencing factors for patients′ IPFS. Conclusions:BMI level and subsequent treatment (chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy) are independent influencing factors for patients' prognosis. WBRT+ SIB and WBRT+ SEB modalities are associated with increased IPFS.

Objective:To study the relationship between adult fluoride exposure and grip strength in rural areas of China with fluorosis, as well as the roles of basal metabolic rate (BMR) and body fat percentage (BFP) in the association between fluoride exposure and grip strength.Methods:From April to May 2017, a cluster sampling method was used to conduct a questionnaire survey, physical examination, and biological sample collection on residents aged 18 - 60 in Tongxu County, Kaifeng City, Henan Province (epidemic areas of drinking-water-borne fluorosis). A total of 1 168 subjects were included in the study, including 427 males and 741 females. The fluoride ion selective electrode method and the picric acid method were used to determine the concentrations of urine fluoride and urine creatinine, and the adjusted urine fluoride concentration (CUF) was calculated. BMR and BFP were measured by a bioelectrical impendence method, and the grip strength was measured by a Jamar grip dynamometer. The relationship between CUF, BMR, BFP and grip strength were analyzed using a generalized linear model regression. The mediation effect model was used to assess the mediating effect of BMR and BFP on the association between CUF and grip strength.Results:Female grip strength decreased by 0.28 kg ( P = 0.043) for every 1.00 mg/L increment in CUF. No similar association was found between the two in males ( P = 0.744). Regardless of gender stratification, BMR was positively correlated with grip strength ( P < 0.001). For every 1.00% increase in BFP, female grip strength decreased by 0.18 kg ( P = 0.043). The mediation effect model analysis results showed that the mediation effect ratios of BMR and BFP in the association between CUF and grip strength in female were 65.1% ( P < 0.001) and 8.4% ( P = 0.111), respectively. Conclusion:Fluoride exposure is associated with changes in female grip strength, and BMR changes play a partial mediating role in the association between fluoride exposure and female grip strength.

At present, the late diagnosis of HIV-infected patients is not optimistic, which has a significant impact on the efficacy, cost, and prognosis of HIV antiretroviral therapy and HIV transmission. Late diagnosis is an important indicator for evaluating HIV testing. This article reviews the influencing factors of late diagnosis of HIV-infected patients and provides a reference for formulating and improving HIV testing strategies and measures in China.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between paraspinal muscle parameters and the angle of degenerative thoracolumbar segmental kyphosis.Methods:From November 2021 to April 2023, a total of 90 female patients with lumbar degenerative disease who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Spine Surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The average age was 67.62±4.98 years (range, 60-80 years), and the average height was 1.58±0.05 m (range, 1.48-1.70 m). Weight 63.79±9.13 kg (range, 47-90 kg), body mass index 25.48±3.35 kg/m 2 (range, 18.37-36.05 kg/m 2). The angle of kyphosis of the thoracolumbar segments was 6.65°±10.38° (range, -17.34° to 9.34°). Disease diagnosis: 32 cases of lumbar disc herniation and 58 cases of lumbar spinal stenosis. Frontal and lateral radiographs of the thoracolumbar segments in the standing position were taken to measure the angle of kyphosis of the thoracolumbar segments; quantitative CT of the thoracolumbar segments and Osirix software were used to measure the parameters of the paravertebral muscles at the levels of T 12, L 3, and L 5, including paravertebral muscle cross-sectional area, skeletal muscle area, and tissue density, the proportion of fat infiltration, and the height-corrected skeletal muscle area index. The correlation between paraspinal muscle parameters and the angle of thoracolumbar segmental kyphosis was analyzed, and the factors affecting the angle of thoracolumbar segmental kyphosis were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Results:Correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between the angle of thoracolumbar segmental kyphosis and the tissue density of T 12 skeletal muscle ( r=-0.303, P=0.004) and L 5 skeletal muscle ( r=-0.219, P=0.038). Age was negatively correlated with T 12 skeletal muscle tissue density ( r=-0.263, P=0.012), T 12 height-corrected skeletal muscle area index ( r=-0.221, P=0.036), T 12 paravertebral muscle cross-sectional area ( r=-0.280, P=0.007), L 3 skeletal muscle tissue density ( r=-0.266, P=0.011) and L 5 skeletal muscle tissue density ( r=-0.290, P=0.006). There was no correlation between bone mineral density and paravertebral muscle parameters ( P>0.05). Multiple linear regression showed that T 12 skeletal muscle tissue density ( β=-1.125, P<0.001), T 12 fat-infiltrated proportion ( β=-0.849, P=0.001), L 3 skeletal muscle tissue density ( β=0.996, P<0.001), and L 3 fat-infiltrated proportion ( β=0.496, P=0.020) were independent factors influencing the angle of thoracolumbar segmental kyphosis . Conclusion:T 12 and L 3 paraspinal muscle density and fat-infiltrated proportion are independent factors affecting the angle of thoracolumbar kyphosis. The smaller the density and fat-infiltrated proportion of T 12 paraspinal muscle, and the larger the density and fat-infiltrated proportion of L 3 paraspinal muscle, the larger the angle of thoracolumbar kyphosis.

Transitional care handover of ICU transferred patients affects patient safety and continuity of care.This article reviews the current situation of transitional care handover for ICU transferred patients at home and abroad,and discusses in depth the problems,influencing factors and intervention strategies in the handover process.It aims to provide references for the improvement of the transitional care handover process of ICU transferred patients in China,development of intervention strategies based on meeting the needs of all parties and centred on patients and families,and enhance the quality of ICU transferred transitional care and patient safety.