Objective:To analyze the characteristics of transabdominal bowel ultrasound (TBUS) in immune checkpoint inhibitor-related colitis (IRC) and their correlation with endoscopic manifestations.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted. Clinical data from 10 patients with IRC treated at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2022 to January 2024 were collected. The ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS) and Limberg classification were used to assess the severity of colonoscopy and TBUS examinations, respectively. Kendall's tau-b method was applied for correlation analysis between UCEIS scores and Limberg classification.Results:All the 10 patients were male with a median age of 65 years (59-74 years). The majority had lung cancer (8 patients) and all were in advanced stages, with 6 patients in stage Ⅲ and 4 in stage Ⅳ. They all received anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) /anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined with chemotherapy, among whom 2 patients were combined with anti-angiogenic drug treatment. The median time from the first immunotherapy to the onset of IRC was 1.50 (0.25-12.00) months; the median time from IRC treatment to clinical symptom relief to G1 was 2.45 (0.50-8.00) weeks. Nine patients were in the active phase, mainly G3 (8 patients) ; 1 was in the remission phase after treatment. TBUS showed that among the 9 active IRC patients, the entire colon was mainly involved (7 patients), with combined small intestine involvement (3 patients) ; the main manifestations were thickening of the bowel wall, with the thickest bowel wall being 7.0 (5.0-8.0) mm, mainly located in the sigmoid colon (3 patients) and descending colon (3 patients) ; increased bowel wall blood flow signals (Limberg classification 2-4) occurred in 7 patients; 3 active patients had perienteric fat wrapping, and 2 had blurred bowel wall stratification. The Kendall's tau-b correlation coefficient r between the entire colon UCEIS scores and Limberg classification was 0.891 ( P = 0.003), and the Kendall's tau-b correlation coefficient r between the colon segment UCEIS scores and Limberg classification was 0.690 ( P < 0.001) . Conclusion:During the active phase, the left colon of IRC is more severe in TBUS, which mainly manifests as the thickening bowel wall and increased blood flow signals, and the TBUS has good correlation with colonoscopy evaluation.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic performance of fecal calprotectin (FC) in predicting endoscopic activity of ulcerative colitis (UC), and to compare it with high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) .Methods:A cross-sectional stydy was conducted. UC patients diagnosed at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between May 2023 and July 2025 were retrospective enrolled. Patients were divided into the endoscopically active group and endoscopic remission group according to endoscopic activity. FC levels were measured using latex-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay (LETIA). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression models were used to assess diagnostic efficacy. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to disease extent.Results:A total of 166 UC patients were enrolled, including 92 males and 74 females with the age of 40.00 (32.00, 52.00) years old and disease course 5.00 (2.00, 10.75) years. Forty-six patients were assigned to the active group, while the remaining 120 were assigned to the remission group. FC levels were significantly higher in the active group than in the remission group (620.72 μg/g vs. 29.00 μg/g, P < 0.001), with an AUC of 0.894 at a cutoff value of 122.54 μg/g. hsCRP and ESR had lower AUC (0.712 and 0.736, respectively). The combination of FC, hsCRP, and ESR slightly improved specificity (AUC 0.898). FC was strongly correlated with the endoscopic activity ( r =0.669, P < 0.001) but not with disease extent. Conclusions:FC measured by latex-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay had comparable diagnostic accuracy to ELISA-based methods commonly used abroad, and provided a reference cutoff value of 122.54 μg/g. FC outperforms hsCRP and ESR in assessing intestinal inflammation in UC and it is less affected by disease extent, making it a reliable non-invasive biomarker for UC monitoring.

Objective:To evaluate the predictive efficacy of fecal calprotectin (FC) for endoscopic activity in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) .Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted and patients diagnosed as CD at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 2023 to September 2025 were enrolled consecutively. Data was collected including general information, laboratory tests [hemoglobin (HGB), platelet (PLT), FC, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and so on], and endoscopic results. FC levels were measured by latex-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay (LETIA). Endoscopic activity was defined as the simplified endoscopic score for Crohn's disease (SES-CD) > 2. Patients were divided into the endoscopically active group and endoscopic remission group according to endoscopic activity, and the differences in clinical data between the two groups were compared. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between FC and endoscopic activity, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficacy of FC, hsCRP and ESR for endoscopic activity, and the differences were compared.Results:A total of 90 CD patients were enrolled, including 65 males and 25 females with the age of 30 (22, 41) years old and disease course 4.0 (0.5, 8.0) years. Seventy-one patients (78.9%) had ileocolonic disease involvement (L3), and 55 patients (61.1%) were using biologics. Sixty-nine patients in endoscopic active phase were assigned to the endoscopically active group, while the remaining 21 were assigned to the endoscopic remission group. There were no statistically significant differences in general characteristics such as age and gender between the two groups (all P > 0.05). Compared with endoscopic remission group, HGB was significantly lower in the endoscopically active group, while PLT, hsCRP, ESR, and FC were moderataly higher (all P < 0.05). Among the 90 CD patients, FC levels were moderatly correlated with endoscopic activity (ρ = 0.494). ROC curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve for FC in predicting endoscopic activity was 0.836 (95% CI: 0.737-0.935), with a sensitivity of 0.725, specificity of 0.952, and accuracy of 0.778 at the optimal FC cutoff value of 153.8 μg/g. FC outperformed hsCRP and ESR. Conclusion:FC measured by LETIA demonstrates certain efficacy in predicting endoscopic activity in CD and will assist in efficient clinical monitoring of CD patients.

Rare digestive diseases refer to rare disorders that primarily affect the digestive system.Currently,there is no standardized clinical classification system for these conditions,and physicians have low awareness of them.This leads to a high likelihood of missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses during the di-agnostic and treatment process,coupled with a scarcity of specific and effective therapeutic options,ulti-mately imposing a tremendous disease burden on patients.With the publication of China's first and second batches of rare disease catalogs,many rare digestive diseases have been progressively included,thereby enhancing awareness among clinicians and patients.The role of gastroenterologists in the multidisciplinary treatment(MDT)of rare diseases is becoming increasingly prominent.The advancement in the disciplinary construction and clinical research of rare digestive diseases,the ongoing implementation of the MDT,and the establishment of multidisciplinary teams for rare digestive diseases collectively enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for rare digestive diseases and lay a solid foundation for large-scale,high-quality clinical research.

The coexistence of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)and autoimmune liver disease(AILD)has gained increasing attention in clinical practice,and there are significant increases in the prevalence rates of autoimmune hepatitis(AIH),primary sclerosing cholangitis(PSC),and AIH-PSC overlap syndrome among the patients with IBD.Several pathogenic mechanisms are shared between IBD and AILDs,including genetic susceptibility,dysregulation of the gut-liver axis,immune imbalance,and abnormal bile acid metabolism.The ECCO guidelines recommend that patients who are suspected of IBD and receive no treatment should undergo a series of liver function tests,including alanine aminotransferase,alkaline phosphatase,gamma-glutamyl transferase,and total serum bilirubin,as well as regular reexaminations during follow-up.While IBD-AILD patients have unique clinical features,there is still a lack of unified diagnosis and treatment guidelines for this comorbidity,and the selection of therapeutic goal often entails a careful balance between the intestinal tract and the liver,requiring interdisciplinary collaboration and combined therapies based on pathogenesis.Future research should focus on the dynamic regulatory networks of the gut-liver axis to develop innovative intervention strategies that ensure both efficacy and safety.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of lamb′s tripe extract and vitamin B 12 capsule (LTEVB 12C) on chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) at different locations (antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and corpus greater curvature). Methods:From August 2011 to January 2013, 715 patients with CAG in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were enrolled from 16 tertiary first-class hospitals across the country, including the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, the First Hospital of Jilin University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, etc., there were 476 cases in the LTEVB 12C group and 239 cases in the placebo group. The patients of the LTEVB 12C group received LTEVB 12C, and the patients of placebo group received LTEVB 12C mimetic, all the medications were taken 3 capsules each time and 3 times a day after meals, and the treatment course of 2 groups were both 6 months. The efficacy evaluation criteria included the effective rate (a decrease of ≥1 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment) and the reversal rate (a decrease of ≥ 2 in histopathological score compared with baseline after 6 months of treatment in the patients with moderate to severe CAG). The impact of lesion sites on the therapeutic effects of LTEVB 12C was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The two-way unordered Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test considering the center effect and Pearson chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results:The effective rates of chronic inflammation at the antrum greater curvature and corpus greater curvature (23.3%, 110/473 vs. 13.0%, 31/239; 20.3%, 96/472 vs. 12.6%, 30/239), the effective rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (27.0%, 118/437 vs. 15.7%, 34/216; 29.2%, 126/432 vs. 18.5%, 38/205; 27.8%, 121/435 vs. 16.7%, 36/216; 32.5%, 127/391 vs. 19.8%, 37/187; 33.0%, 119/361 vs. 21.8%, 39/179), and the effective rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (45.0%, 112/249 vs. 29.8%, 31/104; 53.8%, 86/160 vs. 33.9%, 21/62; 45.8%, 103/225 vs. 24.0%, 25/104; 51.9%, 83/160 vs. 28.3%, 17/60) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=10.76, 6.39, 9.69, 7.91, 11.05, 9.62, 8.57, 5.20, 7.11, 12.45, and 6.73; all P<0.05). The reversal rates of chronic inflammation at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature (5.2%, 12/231 vs. 0, 0/123; 4.7%, 8/170 vs. 0, 0/88), the reversal rates of atrophy at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, corpus lesser curvature, and the corpus greater curvature (6.8%, 22/323 vs. 1.3%, 2/151; 9.2%, 29/315 vs. 1.4%, 2/144; 14.2%, 38/267 vs. 2.5%, 3/121; 20.8%, 35/168 vs. 5.8%, 4/69), and the reversal rates of intestinal metaplasia at the antrum lesser curvature, antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the corpus lesser curvature (29.8%, 39/131 vs. 9.1%, 4/44; 41.0%, 32/78 vs. 12.5%, 3/24; 33.3%, 44/132 vs. 4.8%, 3/63; 50.0%, 37/74 vs. 8.7%, 2/23) of the LTEVB 12C group were all higher than those of the placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=6.58, 5.12, 5.60, 8.61, 11.43, 6.59, 7.30, 4.95, 15.92, 7.62; all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the effective rates and reversal rates of active inflammation at different locations between the LTEVB 12C group and the placebo group (all P>0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis (taking the antrum lesser curvature as the reference) further confirmed that the reversal rates of chronic inflammation ( OR=0.22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.07 to 0.67; OR=0.24, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.80), atrophy ( OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49; OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.49), and intestinal metaplasia ( OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.77; OR=0.20, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.52) at the corpus lesser curvature and corpus greater curvature were all higher than those at the antrum lesser curvature, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no statistically siginificant differences in the reversal rates of the aforementioned pathological features between the antrum greater curvature, gastric angle, and the antrum lesser curvature (all P>0.05). Conclusion:LTEVB 12C can achieve good efficacy in the treatment of CAG, and the chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia at multiple locations are improved, especially at the corpus lesser curvature and the corpus greater curvature.

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) represent a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by chronic inflammation. Their long disease duration and relapsing nature often necessitate long-term, sometimes lifelong, pharmacotherapy. However, the adverse effects associated with these medications cannot be overlooked, with particular attention warranted for the potential risk of malignancy. This article reviews the current evidence regarding the oncogenic risk of major therapeutic agents used for IMIDs, aiming to enhance clinicians' comprehensive understanding of these drugs. For IMIDs patients with a history of malignancy or those possessing other risk factors for cancer, this knowledge may encourage more deliberate deliberation and a more thorough assessment when selecting appropriate treatment options, thereby facilitating better management of drug-associated malignancy risks.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between alterations in dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) and spatial navigation abilities in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) across different Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) constitutions.Methods:Seventy-five participants with SCD, comprising 34 individuals with balanced constitutions and 41 individuals with biased constitutions, were recruited from the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School between August 2022 and January 2025. The participants underwent TCM constitution assessment, spatial navigation ability testing, and neuropsychological scale evaluation. Additionally, each participant was assessed using 3.0 T resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and high-resolution T1-weighted imaging scans. Based on prior research, 20 spatial navigation-related regions of interest (ROIs) were defined. Afterwards, rs-fMRI time series were segmented using a sliding time window approach before calculating the dFC within the spatial navigation brain network.Results:Compared to the balanced constitution group, the biased constitution SCD group showed significantly lower scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) ( z=-3.05, P=0.002) and the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) measures: immediate recall ( z=-2.12, P=0.035), short-delay recall ( z=-2.22, P=0.026), long-delay recall ( z=-2.88, P=0.004), cued recall ( z=-2.91, P=0.004), and recognition ( z=-2.20, P=0.028). They also exhibited significantly higher average error distances in ego-allocentric navigation ( z=-2.28, P=0.023), egocentric navigation ( z=-2.31, P=0.021), and delayed navigation ( z=-2.02, P=0.043). Participants with SCD who had a biased constitution also demonstrated significantly reduced dFC between the left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and left prefrontal cortex (PFC) ( t=2.43), right precuneus and right retrosplenial cortex (RSC) ( t=2.96), and left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and left hippocampus ( t=2.42) (all P<0.05, Bonferroni-corrected). Conversely, the dFC was significantly increased between the right PHG and left PFC ( t=-2.29, P<0.05, Bonferroni-corrected). Significant correlations were also found in participants with SCD who had biased constitutions: the dFC between the left PHG and left PFC positively correlated with the egocentric navigation average total error ( r=0.34, P=0.030) and negatively correlated with the visuospatial memory cognitive domain ( r=-0.35, P=0.026); the dFC between the left IPL and left hippocampus negatively correlated with the egocentric navigation average total error ( r=-0.32, P=0.043); and the dFC between the right PHG and left PFC positively correlated with the delayed navigation average total error ( r=0.33, P=0.037). The area under the ROC curve for the combined differences in cognitive assessments, spatial navigation behavior, and navigation-related brain network dFC was 0.966 in predicting biased constitution versus balanced constitution in participants with SCD. Conclusions:Individuals with SCD and biased constitutions demonstrated poorer spatial navigation ability, possibly due to altered dFC within the spatial navigation brain network. Furthermore, the integrated model based on spatial navigation behaviors and dFC exhibited a high predictive value in distinguishing between individuals with SCD who had balanced and biased constitutions.

Objective:To explore the impact of the Yiqi Huoxue formula combined with nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) antiviral therapy on the serum N-glycan abundance in patients with hepatitis B-related liver fibrosis so as to clarify the application value of the oligosaccharide chain test (GT) for dynamic monitoring of the liver fibrosis progression.Methods:Sixty-two cases diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B at the Department of Hepatology, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, between January 2020 and December 2022 were enrolled and divided into a Yiqi Huoxue Formula (YQHX) combined with NAs group and an NAs monotherapy group ( n=31), with 31 cases in each group for a total of 96 weeks of follow-up. Patient's basic clinical characteristics and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) were collected. GT was used simultaneously to detect the serum N-glycan profile and abundance changes. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between the two groups. Enumeration data were expressed as number of cases and percentages (%). The χ2 test was used to compare constituent ratios between two or more groups. Correlation analysis was performed using the Spearman method, with P<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results:The proportion of patients was significantly higher in the YQHX combined with NAs group than the NAs monotherapy group [61.29% (19/31) vs. 9.68% (3/31), P<0.05] with no progression in liver fibrosis staging following 96 weeks of follow-up. The abundance of the N-glycan marker peak 8 [triantennary N-glycan (NA3)] had resulted in significant change for liver fibrosis improvements ( P<0.05), which predicts liver fibrosis progression and reversal in populations sensitive to traditional Chinese medicine. Conclusion:The combined application of Yiqi Huoxue formula and NAs can significantly promote the improvement rate of hepatitis B-related liver fibrosis. Serum N-glycan peak 8 may serve as a potential biomarker for monitoring the reversal of hepatitis B-related liver fibrosis.

The coexistence of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)and autoimmune liver disease(AILD)has gained increasing attention in clinical practice,and there are significant increases in the prevalence rates of autoimmune hepatitis(AIH),primary sclerosing cholangitis(PSC),and AIH-PSC overlap syndrome among the patients with IBD.Several pathogenic mechanisms are shared between IBD and AILDs,including genetic susceptibility,dysregulation of the gut-liver axis,immune imbalance,and abnormal bile acid metabolism.The ECCO guidelines recommend that patients who are suspected of IBD and receive no treatment should undergo a series of liver function tests,including alanine aminotransferase,alkaline phosphatase,gamma-glutamyl transferase,and total serum bilirubin,as well as regular reexaminations during follow-up.While IBD-AILD patients have unique clinical features,there is still a lack of unified diagnosis and treatment guidelines for this comorbidity,and the selection of therapeutic goal often entails a careful balance between the intestinal tract and the liver,requiring interdisciplinary collaboration and combined therapies based on pathogenesis.Future research should focus on the dynamic regulatory networks of the gut-liver axis to develop innovative intervention strategies that ensure both efficacy and safety.