The inflammatory microenvironment is closely associated with the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis （OA）， specifically manifesting as macrophage activation， dysregulation of inflammatory cytokines， and redox imbalance. Following an overview of the pathological characteristics of the OA inflammatory microenvironment， this paper reviews the research progress on the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） intervening in OA by modulating the inflammatory microenvironment. It has been found that TCM monomers/active ingredients （such as total alkaloids from Strychnos nux-vomica ， quercetin， triptolide， etc.）， herb pairs （e.g. Angelica pubescens - Gentiana macrophylla ， Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba）， and TCM formulas （such as Zhuanggu jianxi formula， Duhuo jisheng decoction and Rongjin niantong formula， etc.） can inhibit macrophage activation， reduce the release of proinflammatory cytokines and the generation of reactive oxygen species by inhibiting multiple signaling pathways， including nuclear factor-κB， Wnt/ β -catenin， and mitogen-activated protein kinase， thereby alleviating the articular inflammatory microenvironment， restoring local joint homeostasis， and slowing the progression of OA.

Objective:To explore the surgical method and therapeutic effect of repairing soft tissue defect of digit-tip with single subcutaneous pedicle V-Y advancing flap combined with skin grafting.Methods:From August 2013 to December 2020, 25 soft tissue defects of digit-tip were repaired by a single subcutaneous pedicle V-Y advancing flap combined with pedicle skin grafting. The area of the defects was 0.8 cm× 0.8 cm to 1.6 cm× 1.4 cm. The flaps were harvested from palm or lateral side of the wound and the area of flap was 0.5 cm×1.0 cm to 0.8 cm×2.5 cm. In order to make the flap transfer to a further distance, the subcutaneous fibre connection of the flap was cut-off during the operation. At the same time, cut off 1 side of subcutaneous pedicle. Finally, the advanced distance of the flap reached 0.5-1.2 cm. After the flap harvested, the medium thickness skin was removed for graft to close the donor site from the wrist striations. After the surgery, follow-up visits were conducted regularly by outpatient clinic, or via telephone or WeChat review or by home visit. Throughout the follow-up, the flap appearance, sensation and recovery of the function of digital joint were observed, together with the patient satisfaction. Results:After the surgery, the postoperative follow-up lasted for 4 months to 8 years. All 25 flaps and skin grafts were survived in first stage wound healing. The flaps and skin grafting areas had excellent texture. The fingerprint had been reconstructed with good appearance. The TPD was 4-9 mm, the functions of digital joint recovered well, and there was no complain about a discomfort at the donor site. According to the evaluation standard of Michigan hand function questionnaire, all 25 patients were very satisfied with the overall appearance and function of the hand. According to Total Angle of Motion (TAM) evaluation standard, finger mobility was excellent in all 25 patients.Conclusion:Subcutaneous V-Y advancing flap combined with skin grafting is an ideal method for repairing soft tissue defect of digit-tip. The surgery characterises a simple flap cutting, less traumatic damage, long advancing distance of flap and good repair effect.

Objective:To explore the surgical method and therapeutic effect of repairing digital tip defect with free flap of proximal perforating branch of proper palmar digital artery.Methods:From March, 2009 to January, 2021, 15 patients with soft tissue defects at the tip of 16 digits were repaired with free perforator flap of proper palmar digital artery. The flap was obtained from the ulnar side of an index finger, on both sides of a middle finger and on the proximal side of the radial side of the ring finger. The size of flaps was 1.8 cm × 1.2 cm - 4.5 cm × 2.2 cm. The flap carried dorsal branch of proper palmar digital nerve and 0.5-4.5 cm of arteriae digitales palmares propriae. The donor digital artery was re-anastomosed in 3 cases 3 digits, transferred and anastomosed in 2 cases and un-anastomosed in 10 cases 11 digits. The dorsal branch of the proper palmar digital nerve in the flap was anastomosed with the proper palmar digital nerve of the finger stump at the recipient site to restore the sensation of flap, and the donor sites at the wrist transverse stripes or elbow transverse stripes were directly sutured. Regular follow-up via outpatient visit, telephone or WeChat interviews was conducted to observe the appearance, sensation and recovery of the flap and finger joint function.Results:After surgery, the flaps and donor site skin grafts of 15 cases with 16 digits were all survived, with first stage healing. A 4 months to 12 years follow-up showed that the flaps were in good texture and full shape with TPD at 7 - 11 mm. The joint function of digits was recovered well, and there was no complaint about uncomfortable donor site. According to the Michigan Hand Function Questionnaire, all 15 patients were satisfied with the overall appearance and function of the hands. According to TAM evaluation standard, all the digits of 15 patients were in excellent.Conclusion:Free flap of the proximal perforating branch of proper palmar digital artery is an ideal in the repair of digital tip soft tissue defect, as it has the advantages of an anatomical constant vessel, hidden donor site, less trauma caused, simple flap resection and good therapeutic effect.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in patients with severe/critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this retrospective study, data were collected from 662 patients with severe/critical COVID-19 who were admitted to a designated hospital to treat patients with severe COVID-19 in Wuhan before March 20, 2020. All patients were divided into an exposed group (CHM users) and a control group (non-users). After propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio, 156 CHM users were matched by propensity score to 156 non-users. No significant differences in seven baseline clinical variables were found between the two groups of patients. All-cause mortality was reported in 13 CHM users who died and 36 non-users who died. After multivariate adjustment, the mortality risk of CHM users was reduced by 82.2% (odds ratio 0.178, 95% CI 0.076-0.418; P < 0.001) compared with the non-users. Secondly, age (odds ratio 1.053, 95% CI 1.023-1.084; P < 0.001) and the proportion of severe/critical patients (odds ratio 0.063, 95% CI 0.028-0.143; P < 0.001) were the risk factors of mortality. These results show that the use of CHM may reduce the mortality of patients with severe/critical COVID-19.
Age Factors ; Aged ; COVID-19/therapy* ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Propensity Score ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Objective:To investigate the surgical method and therapeutic effect of reconstruction of distal blood supply of multiple segments of severed finger body by ortho phalanx artery bridge transfer.Methods:Between November, 2005 and February, 2019, 7 finger body was replanted in 7 cases with 3 segments. Due to the short middle finger body and severe bruising, the power could not pass through the middle section after the proximal finger artery anastomosis. For the long section of blood supply, in order to prevent the skin and blood vessels from separating too much and causing the middle internal artery to separate from the phalanx, after anastomosis of the middle artery, the blood supply was provided by anastomosis with the distal phalanx artery by means of the adjacent phalanx artery bridge. Four cases with vascular pedicle grafts. The skin was sewn into tube in 3 cases, and separate fingers between 3.5 and 6.0 months after operation. Four cases of posterior artery recalcitration and 3 cases of direct adjacent artery transposition. The appearance, sensation and total motion of finger joints were observed and the satisfaction of patients was investigated to evaluate the therapeutic effect.Results:Seven patients with replantation finger were all alive after operation, and the follow-up time was 5 to 40 months respectively. The total range of motion of flexion and extension of finger joints was 100°-170°, and the TPD of finger pulp was 7-12 mm, with an average of 9.6 mm. According to Michigan's functional questionnaire, 7 patients were satisfied with the overall appearance and function of their opponents. According to the evaluation standard of the replantation function of the broken finger of the Chinese Medical Association, 3 cases were excellent and 4 cases were good.Conclusion:It is a simple and effective way to reconstruct the blood supply of multi-segment severed fingers by means of adjacent finger artery bridge transfer.

In July 2016, we used free superficial palmar branch of radial artery flap to repair one case of complete dissection of the thumb with skin defect, and achieved good result .

Objective To explore the surgical technique of applying the pedicle composite tissue flap based on superficial palmar branch of the radial artery to repair the soft tissue defect of thumb and evaluate the clinical ef-fect. Methods From February,2013 to March, 2016, 5 cases of the soft tissue and tendon defect of thumb were treated with the pedicle composite tissue flap based on superficial palmar branch of the radial artery. The flap was de-signed at wrist not exceeding the wrist rasceta and the donor site was sutured directly. The size of the harvested flaps was between 3.0 cm ×2.2 cm to 4.2 cm ×3.2 cm, and the sensation of thumb or the flap was reconstructed via median nerve cutaneous branch. The Extensor pollicislongus muscle tendon defect was repaired via palm tendon carried by composite tissue flap. Postoperative follow-up was done termly. Results All transfering flaps survived and all cases were followed-up for 4 to 11 months. The donor site got primary healing with a linear scar. The appearance and tex-ture of the flap was satisfactory. The two-point discrimination ranged from 8 to 11 mm. The appearance of thumb re-covered well and the digit joint had a good motion. Conclusion The pedicle composite tissue flap based on superfi-cial palmar branch of the radial artery is easy to harvest and its vascular anatomy is constant, which is masked and a small incision for the donor site. When necessary, palm tendon or median nerve cutaneous branch can be contained in the flap to form a composite transplant. It is an ideal method for repair of thumb soft tissue defect.

Objective To determine if aquaporin1 ( AQP1) and aquaporin5 ( AQP5) are expressed in the alveolar-capillary membrane in rats, and to investigate the changes of AQP1 and AQP5 expression in the rat with acute lung injury.Methods The distribution of AQP1 and AQP5 in alveolar capillary membrane was investigated by immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy with affinity-purified antibodies to human AQP1 and AQP5.The possibility that alveolar capillary membrane AQP1 and AQP5 undergo altered regulation was studied by a rat model established using intra-tracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Results Immunolabelling showed that AQP1 was stained primarily in the microvascular endothelium of normal lungs, while AQP5 was expressed in type I pneumocytes. Immunohistochemical analysis showed a significant decrease in the expression of AQP1 and AQP5 in injured lungs at 4 -48 h after LPS instillation.AQP1 protein was resumed partly at 24 h after LPS instillation and steroid administration, whereas AQP5 was unchanged.Conclusions The decreased expressions of AQP1 and AQP5 in injured lungs suggest that both of them may play a role in abnormal fluid transportation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic value of 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in detecting residual/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHOD: The literatures published between January 1990 and September 2013 were searched in PubMed, EM-BASE, EBSCO, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases. Two researchers independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed the quality of included studies according to the QUADAS tool. Summary sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratios (DOR), and receiver-operating characteristic (SROC) curves were obtained using Meta-Disc software. Subgroup analysis was also conducted. RESULT: Twenty-six studies were included in this meta-analysis, involving 1203 patients. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and DOR were 0. 92 (95% CI:0.89-0.94), 0. 87 (95% CI:0.84-0.90) and 51. 10 (95% CI:34.29-76.15), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) and Q index estimate for PET/CT were 0. 9494 and 0. 8897, respectively. The results of subgroup analysis showed no significant differences between subgroups(P>0.05). CONCLUSION In a word, 18F-FDG PET/CT performed well for diagnosis of residual/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with relatively high sensitivity and specificity.
Carcinoma ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; ROC Curve ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Recurrence ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impact of Fc gamma receptor IIIa (FcγR IIIa) polymorphisms on the efficacy of rituximab (RTX) combined chemotherapy for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

METHODSFcγRIIIa polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR in 122 patients and 100 healthy controls. All patients received 8(4-12) cycles of RTX combined chemotherapy.

RESULTS78(63.93%) patients with F/F, 5(4.10%) with V/V, and 39(31.97%) with V/F were identified, which were not different compared to controls. Patients with different FcγRIIIa genotypes did not have any difference in terms of gender, age, molecular subtypes, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) or international prognostic index (IPI). The overall response rate (ORR) was 89.35% with a complete response (CR) of 80.33% and a partial response (PR) of 9.02%. The ORR was 83.33%, 100.00% and 100.00% in F/F, V/V and V/F, respectively. A higher response rate was observed in V/V and V/F as compared with F/F (P<0.05). With a median follow-up of 35 months (range: 12-62 months), 46(37.71%) patients had relapsed and 40 (32.79%) cases progressed and ended in death. The 3-year progress-free survival (PFS) rate was 41.03%, 100.00%, 100.00% in F/F, V/V and V/F, respectively. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 48.72%, 100.00% and 100.00% in patients with three genotypes. The PFS and OS rate were significantly higher in V/V and V/F as compared with F/F (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFcγR III a polymorphisms could predict response and prognosis of RTX combined chemotherapy for patients with DLBCL.

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; administration & dosage ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Disease-Free Survival ; GPI-Linked Proteins ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Prognosis ; Receptors, IgG ; genetics ; Remission Induction ; Rituximab