AIM:To investigate alterations in the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and subsets of CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with diabetic retinopathy(DR).METHODS:Retrospective study. A total of 40 patients with type 2 diabetes admitted to Xi'an People's Hospital(Xi'an Fourth Hospital)from April to July 2022 were recruited for this study and categorized into two groups: 20 cases in the simple type 2 diabetes mellitus(DM)group, and 20 cases in the DR group. Additionally, 20 healthy individuals undergoing routine physical examinations served as the control group. The expression levels of cytokines, including interleukin(IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10 in peripheral blood were quantified using ELISA. Flow cytometry was employed to analyze the expression of programmed cell death-1(PD-1), T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain protein-3(TIM-3), CD28, and CD57 on CD8+ T cells.RESULTS:The peripheral blood expression of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 inflammatory cytokines were significantly elevated in DR patients as detected by ELISA(all P<0.001); flow cytometry analysis showed that the expression of PD-1, TIM-3, and CD57 were elevated in peripheral blood CD8+ T cells of DR patients(all P<0.001), and the expression of CD28 was decreased(all P<0.001).CONCLUSION:In DR patients, CD8+ T cells may undergo depletion and senescence as a result of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10.

Objectives:To investigate the physical growth status of pediatric patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) and analyze the effects of treatment-related and socioeconomic factors on physical growth.Methods:Based on the specialized thalassemia database from gene therapy clinical research at the Institute of Hematology & Hospital of Blood Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, we collected data on height and weight development, family economic status, and medical records of 338 pediatric patients with TDT from October 2023 to May 2024. The length/height-for-age and body mass index (BMI) -for-age were classified based on the Growth Standard for Children under 7 Years of Age, Standard for Height Level Classification among Children and Adolescents Aged 7-18 Years, and Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the effects of family economic status and disease-related treatment on length/height-for-age and BMI-for-age.Results:Among the 338 patients, 118 were children and 220 were adolescents (192 males and 146 females), with a median age of 12 years (range: 0.8-18) and a median diagnosis duration of 10.3 years (range: 0.5-17.9). Subtypes included α-thalassemia [21 cases (6.2%) ], β-thalassemia [288 cases (85.2%) ], and combined αβ-thalassemia[29 cases (8.6%) ]. The monthly household income of patients was concentrated in 3 000-5 000 yuan (39.9%) and 5 001-10 000 yuan (34.9%), whereas 67.2% of the families had monthly medical expenses of <3 000 yuan. Of the patients, 75.5% received their first transfusion before 1 year of age. The proportions of children and adolescents with pretransfusion hemoglobin (HGB) of ≤70 g/L were 4.2% and 6.4%, respectively. Adolescents demonstrated significantly higher rates of transfusion frequency of <4 weeks/session, monthly red blood cell infusion of >2 U, serum ferritin (SF) of ≥5 000 μg/L, iron chelation therapy, and splenectomy compared with children (all P<0.05). Of the 338 patients, 26.0%, 22.8%, and 8.9% demonstrated stunted growth, underweight, and concurrent stunted growth with underweight, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the stunted growth rates between children (22.9%) and adolescents (27.7%) ( P=0.402). However, the underweight rate in adolescents (26.8%) was significantly higher than that in children (15.3%) ( P=0.023). The multivariate analysis determined the following risk factors for stunted growth: monthly household income of <10 000 yuan (5 001-10 000 yuan: OR=5.49, 95% CI: 1.48-35.76; 3 000-5 000 yuan: OR=6.87, 95% CI: 1.88-44.60; <3 000 yuan: OR=9.29, 95% CI: 2.20-64.77), pretransfusion HGB of ≤70 g/L ( OR=3.25, 95% CI: 1.07-10.18), and SF of ≥5 000 μg/L ( OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.20-7.70). Longer diagnostic duration was associated with underweight ( OR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20) . Conclusions:Children and adolescents with TDT with pretransfusion SF of ≥5 000 μg/L, HGB of ≤70 g/L, low monthly household income, or longer diagnosis duration were significantly more likely to experience delayed physical growth.

Objective:To evaluate the association between heatwaves and fall-related mortality.Methods:A total of 61 421 fall-related mortality from 2013 to 2022 in 7 provinces of China were included in a time-stratified case-crossover design, with daily meteorological data derived from the fifth generation European Reanalysis dataset produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Conditional logistic regression chimeric distributed lag nonlinear model was used to analyze the association between heatwaves and fall-related mortality and stratified analysis was conducted according to gender and age.Results:Heatwaves were associated with an increased risk of fall-related morality. The risk of fall-related mortality during heatwaves was higher than during non-heatwave periods ( OR=1.11, 95% CI: 1.05-1.18). The attributable fraction of fall-related motality due to heatwaves was 10.25% (95% CI: 4.49%-15.36%). For each 1 ℃ increase above the heatwave threshold, the risk of fall-related mortality increased by 34% ( OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.02-1.76). The effect of heatwave duration on fall-related mortality was not statistically significant. Stratified analyses indicated that women experienced a higher risk of fall-related mortality during heatwaves ( OR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.04-1.22) compared to man ( OR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.04-1.17). Conclusions:Heatwave increases the risk of fall-related mortality, and the intensity of heatwaves modify this risk. Women are vulnerable populations.

Objective:To evaluate the impact of short-term exposure to daytime heatwaves, nighttime heatwaves, and compound heatwaves on the risk of road traffic mortality and calculate the attributable mortality burden.Methods:This study collected road traffic mortality data from the Disease Surveillance System in Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, and Jilin Provinces from 2013 to 2018. A time-stratified case-crossover design was used in this study, with the death date for each case serving as the case day. Control days were selected from the same year, month, and day of the week as the case day. A conditional logistic regression model was employed to estimate the cumulative associations of short-term exposure to daytime heatwaves, nighttime heatwaves, and compound heatwaves on the risk of road traffic mortality (lag 0-1 day) and to calculate the attributable fractions (AF).Results:Compared to non-heatwave days, the excess risk ( ER) of road traffic mortality on daytime heatwave days, nighttime heatwave days, and compound heatwave days was 5.3% (95% CI: 0.5%-10.2%), 4.9% (95% CI: 0.5%-9.4%) and 7.5% (95% CI: 2.3%- 12.9%), with corresponding AF of 5.0% (95% CI: 0.5%-9.3%), 4.7% (95% CI: 0.5%-8.6%), and 6.9% (95% CI: 2.3%-11.4%), respectively. Stratified analysis showed that the risk of traffic mortalities caused by daytime heatwaves was higher in females ( ER=15.7%, 95% CI: 5.8%-26.5%) than in males ( ER=1.8%, 95% CI: -3.6%-7.4%). Elderly individuals over 64 years old ( ER=10.9%, 95% CI: 0.3%- 22.6%) had a higher risk of road traffic mortalities from compound heatwaves than those under 45 years old ( ER=2.6%, 95% CI: -5.4%-11.2%). The risk of road traffic injury mortality from motor vehicle accidents caused by compound heatwaves ( ER=16.6%, 95% CI:2.4%-32.7%) was higher than that from non-motor vehicle accidents ( ER=5.7%, 95% CI:0.1%-11.5%). Conclusions:Short-term exposure to daytime heatwaves, nighttime heatwaves, and compound heatwaves was associated with an increased risk of road traffic mortality, with the strongest association observed for compound heatwaves. The mortality burden attributable to compound heatwaves was higher than that for daytime and nighttime heatwaves. Heatwaves were more significantly associated with road traffic mortality risk among females, elderly individuals over 64 years old, and motor vehicle accidents.

Objective:To explore the risk fall death associated with compound hot extremes.Methods:This study collected data on fall deaths in Guangdong, Hunan, and Zhejiang Provinces from 2013 to 2018 and matched their exposure to meteorological data. Based on a time-stratified case-crossover design, a conditional logistic regression model embedded with a cross-basis function of the distributed lag nonlinear model was applied to estimate the risk of fall to death due to compound hot extremes.Results:Compared with regular days, compound hot extremes significantly increased the risk of death from falls ( OR=1.19, 95% CI: 1.09-1.30), and women ( OR=1.27, 95% CI: 1.11-1.45) and the elderly age 65 and above ( OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.12-1.39) were more sensitive to compound hot extremes. The maximum duration of compound hot extremes was 7 days, and the maximum intensity was 6.2 ℃, and the duration and intensity were proportional to the risk of death from falls. The risk of death from falls increased by 12% ( OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.18) each day, increasing in duration after linearization. The risk of death from falls increased by 16% ( OR=1.16, 95% CI: 1.10-1.22) for each 1 ℃ increase in linearized intensity. Conclusion:Compound hot extremes increase the risk of death cases from falls.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility and clinical value of artificial intelligence-assisted compressed sensing (ACS) technology in accelerating MR simulation (MR-sim) for radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods:Thirty patients with NPC scheduled to receive radical radiotherapy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent head and neck MR-sim on a 3.0 T scanner, with axial T 1 weighted imaging (WI), T 2WI, contrast-enhanced T 1WI, and fat-suppressed contrast-enhanced T 1WI images acquired using both ACS and parallel imaging (PI) techniques. Paired-sample t tests or rank-sum tests were used to compare scan time, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of MR-sim images between the two techniques. A 5-point Likert scale was applied to evaluate tumor lesion visualization, lesion margin clarity, artifacts, and overall image quality, with chi-square tests used to compare subjective image quality scores between the two techniques. Tumor target volumes were delineated on MR-sim images obtained by both ACS and PI techniques after fusion with CT simulation images, and consistency was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). Results:For both individual sequences and overall protocols, ACS significantly reduced MR-sim acquisition time compared with PI ( P < 0.001). The total acquisition time with ACS was (378.60±17.07) s versus (694.93±17.07) s with PI, representing a 45.52% time reduction. SNR, CNR, tumor lesion identification, margin clarity, artifacts, and overall image quality scores of MR-sim images did not differ significantly between ACS and PI ( P > 0.05). Tumor target volumes delineated from ACS- and PI-based MR-sim images showed high consistency after fusion with CT simulation images ( P > 0.05), with mean DSC values of primary tumors and metastatic cervical lymph nodes approaching 1. Conclusion:Compared with conventional MR acceleration methods (PI), ACS enables faster MR-sim acquisition in NPC without compromising image quality or the accuracy of tumor target delineation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status of long-term quality of life in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) who have been cured and discharged, and to analyze the influencing factors affecting long-term quality of life in SAP cured patients after discharge. METHODS: A retrospective collection was conducted. Patients who were received standardized treatment before being cured and discharged from the hospital admitted to the first department of critical care medcine of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2017 to December 2023 were enrolled. According to the 36-item short form health survey scale (SF-36) score, patients were divided into high score group (high quality of life, the top 50% of patients with total SF-36 score) and low score group (low quality of life, the bottom 50% of patients with total SF-36 score). The gender, age, history of hypertension and diabetes, etiology of pancreatitis, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA), CT severity index (CTSI), laboratory indicators such as C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), blood glucose, and triglycerides upon admission, use of vasoactive drugs, non-invasive/high-flow ventilation, invasive ventilation, retroperitoneal puncture and drainage, open pancreatic surgery treatment and secondary infection during hospitalization were collected, as well as the retention of abdominal drainage tubes at discharge from hospital. Distribute follow-up questionnaires or telephone follow-up surveys through WeChat and Question Star programs to investigate the pancreatic secretion function, chronic abdominal pain, and recurrence of pancreatitis of patients after discharge. Multivariable Logistic regression was used to analyze the relevant factors affecting the long-term quality of life of cured patients with SAP. RESULTS: A total of 86 patients were ultimately enrolled. There were 43 patients in both the high and low score groups. Among 86 patients, 20 experienced acute pancreatitis recurrence, with a recurrence rate of 23.26%. Twenty-two (25.58%) experienced chronic abdominal pain after discharge, and 5 patients (5.81%) needed medication to relieve pain. Thirty-three patients (38.37%) had pancreatic exocrine dysfunction after discharge, characterized by abdominal distension, constipation or diarrhea. Twenty-two patients (25.58%) suffered from pancreatic endocrine dysfunction, and were diagnosed with diabetes. Univariate analysis showed that compared with the high score group, the low score group had more patients with hypertension, initial renal dysfunction, initial severe metabolic acidosis, initial serum calcium < 2.0 mmol/L, blood glucose > 11.1 mmol/L and cultured Gram positive bacteria (from blood/body fluid/pancreatic necrotic tissue) during treatment (48.84% vs. 16.28%, 60.47% vs. 32.56%, 18.60% vs. 4.65%, 88.37% vs. 62.79%, 55.81% vs. 30.23%, 34.88% vs. 13.95%), had higher CTSI score (6.60±1.61 vs. 5.77±1.32), lower hemoglobin level at discharge (g/L: 102.30±18.78 vs. 110.72±16.68), and a lower proportion of etiological interventions after discharge (34.88% vs. 67.44%), the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension [odds ratio (OR) = 4.814, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.196-19.378], initial serum calcium < 2.0 mmol/L (OR = 6.688, 95%CI was 1.321-33.873) and initial blood glucose > 11.1 mmol/L (OR = 6.473, 95%CI was 1.399-29.950) were risk factors for long-term quality of life in cured SAP patients (all P < 0.05), while post discharge prophylactic intervention was a protective factor for long-term quality of life (OR = 0.092, 95%CI was 0.020-0.425, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Cured SAP patients have varying degrees of impaired secretion function and the possibility of recurrence of acute pancreatitis. Hypertension, initial serum calcium < 2.0 mmol/L and blood glucose > 11.1 mmol/L are independent influencing factors for low long-term quality of life in cured SAP patients. Prevention and intervention targeting the etiology of pancreatitis after discharge can improve the long-term quality of life of cured SAP patients.
Humans ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Pancreatitis/therapy* ; Patient Discharge ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; APACHE ; Adult ; Acute Disease ; Aged

Objective To investigate the effect of closed-chain exercise training on hemiplegic shoulder pain and shoulder joint sta-bility in stroke patients,and to explore the relationship between hemiplegic shoulder pain and shoulder joint sta-bility.Methods A total of 52 stroke patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain in Jiangsu Province Hospital from October,2020 to January,2023 were selected,and were randomly divided into control group(n=26)and experimental group(n=26).Both groups received conventional rehabilitation therapy,while the experimental group additionally under-went closed-chain exercise training for shoulder joint.Pain severity and motor function were assessed using Visu-al Analog Scale(VAS)and Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremities(FMA-UE)before and after intervention.Musculoskeletal ultrasound was used to measure acromion-greater tuberosity distance(AGT),acromion-lesser tu-berosity distance(ALT),acromiohumeral distance(AHD)and supraspinatus thickness(SST)to evaluate shoulder joint stability.Correlation analysis was conducted on the improvements in shoulder pain and shoulder joint stabil-ity in the experimental group.Results Two cases in the control group and two in the experimental group dropped down.Both groups showed signifi-cant improvements in VAS and FMA-UE scores after intervention(|t|>5.214,P<0.001),and the scores im-proved more in the experimental group than in the control group(|t|>2.087,P<0.05).The experimental group also showed significant improvements in AGT,ALT,AHD and SST(|t|>4.187,P<0.001),with AGT,ALT and AHD being superior to those in the control group(|t|>2.155,P<0.05).The difference of VAS score in the exper-imental group was correlated with the difference of FMA-UE,AGT and ALT after intervention(r>0.434,P<0.05).Conclusion Closed-chain shoulder exercise training can significantly improve shoulder joint stability while alleviating shoulder pain,and effectively enhancing upper limb function in stroke patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain.Hemiplegic shoulder pain is correlated with shoulder joint stability.

Objective:To establish the model of acute kidney injury (AKI), search for more sensitive and reliable biomarkers.Methods:In April 2018, 100 male Wister rats aged 6 to 8 weeks were selected and randomly divided into experimental group (n=90) and control group (n=10). The experimental group was given Diachalefin (140 mg/kg body weight) by intragastric administration, while the control group was given saline intragastric administration. Ten rats in the experimental group were killed 0.5 h, 2 h, 6 h, 24 h, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d and 28 d after intragastric administration, respectively. Serum creatinine (Cr), urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid (UA) were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer with 5 ml of blood from inferior vena cava puncture. Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipid carrier protein (NGAL), kidney damage molecule-1 (KIM-1) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data between groups were compared using two independent sample t tests.Results:The renal tissue structure of rats in the control group was not significantly abnormal, while the renal tissue cell damage of rats in the experimental group was obvious, which gradually increased with the extension of time in the early stage, and gradually recovered in the later stage. UA in experimental group reached its peak at 24 h after exposure and was still higher than that in control group at 14 d ( P<0.05), Cr reached its peak at 7 d, and then gradually decreased, and there was no statistical significance between experimental group and control group at 28 d ( P>0.05). BUN increased at 6 h after exposure and reached the highest value at 7~14 d ( P<0.05). Blood NGAL increased at 0.5 h after exposure, reached its peak at 24 h, continued to increase at 3, 7 and 14 days ( P<0.05), and began to decrease at 21 days. KIM-1 began to increase at 0.5 h, continued to peak at 24 h, 3 and 7 d after exposure, and began to decrease at 14 d, but it was still higher than that in control group ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in TGF-β1 at each time point ( P>0.05). Western blot assay results: Compared with control group, there was no significant difference in the expression level of TGF-β1 in kidney tissue of experimental group ( P>0.05). NGAL increased gradually from 2 h and was higher at 7 and 14 d, with statistical significance ( P<0.05). KIM-1 increased at 2 h, decreased at 6 and 24 h, and increased again at 3 and 7 d. Conclusion:NGAL and KIM-1 can be used as early diagnostic biomarkers for diquat-induced acute kidney injury.