Renal Fanconi syndrome (FS) is a rare renal manifestation of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). This study aims to analyze the clinical and prognostic characteristics of patients with pSS-associated renal FS (pSS-FS) and provide insights for clinical management.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of microribonucleic acid (miRNA) gene polymorphisms with the risk and clinicopathological characteristics of Crohn's disease (CD) and the influence of miRNA gene variants on the response to ustekinumab (UST) treatment among CD patients. METHODS: From January 2018 to February 2025, 312 patients diagnosed with CD and 527 gender- and age-matched normal controls were selected as the study subjects at the Department of Gastroenterology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. Genotypes of miR-155 (rs767649), miR-21 (rs13137), miR-124 (rs531564) and miR-146a (rs57095329, rs2431697) were determined with multiplex polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction (PCR-LDR) technique. The patients were divided into different subgroups according to the Montreal Classification Criteria for CD. Harvey-Bradshaw index (HBI) and simplified endoscopic score for CD were respectively applied to assess the clinical and endoscopic disease activity of CD. Unconditional logistic regression model was employed to analyze the distribution of miRNA gene polymorphisms between the two groups, as well as their influence on the clinicopathological characteristics of CD patients. Among them, 185 CD patients received first-line UST treatment, with the first sufficient dose of UST (6 mg/kg) administered intravenously. Based on the changes in HBI at week 8, the response of patients to UST treatment was evaluated. Unconditional logistic regression model was employed to analyze the distribution of miRNA gene polymorphisms between clinically responsive group (the decline of HBI ≥ 3 scores compared to week 0) and non-responsive group. All of the P values were adjusted by Bonferroni correction. This study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Ethics No.: 2025-K-12-01). RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the distribution of miRNA gene polymorphisms between the two groups (all P > 0.05). The variant genotype (TC+CC) of rs2431697 was more common among patients with terminal ileal-type and ileocolic-type CD than those with the colonic-type CD (OR = 4.98, 95%CI: 1.49~16.68, P = 0.009, adjusted P = 0.045). However, the opposite conclusion was drawn for the homozygous variant genotype (TT) of rs13137 and variant genotype (GC+CC) of rs531564 (OR = 0.37, 95%CI: 0.18~0.76, P = 0.007, adjusted P = 0.035; OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.18~0.73, P = 0.004, adjusted P = 0.020). Compared to patients with non-stricturing and penetrating CD, the variant genotype (AG+GG) and variant allele (G) of rs57095329 were more common in those with stricturing and penetrating CD (OR = 4.06, 95%CI: 2.46~6.71, P < 0.001, adjusted P < 0.005; OR = 3.12, 95%CI: 2.06~4.73, P < 0.001, adjusted P < 0.005). However, the frequencies of variant genotype (AT+TT) and variant allele (T) of rs13137 were lower among patients with stricturing and penetrating CD than in those without (OR = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.15~0.41, P < 0.001, adjusted P < 0.005; OR = 0.45, 95%CI: 0.33~0.63, P < 0.001, adjusted P < 0.005). Additionally, the variant genotype (AG+GG) and variant allele (G) of rs57095329 were more common among those with moderately to severely endoscopic activity than those with mildly endoscopic activity (OR = 2.01, 95%CI: 1.19~3.42, P = 0.009, adjusted P = 0.045; OR = 2.04, 95%CI: 1.28~3.25, P = 0.003, adjusted P = 0.015). In total 117 cases had shown clinical response by week 8, while 68 cases showed no response. Compared with t he clinically non-responsive group, the variant genotype (TC+CC) and variant allele (C) of rs2431697 were more common in the clinically responsive group (OR = 3.86, 95%CI: 1.80~8.32, P = 0.001, adjusted P = 0.005; OR = 2.60, 95%CI: 1.34~5.06, P = 0.005, adjusted P = 0.025). However, the variant genotype (TA+AA) of rs767649 was less frequent in the clinically responsive group than the non-responsive group (OR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.21~0.74, P = 0.004, adjusted P = 0.020). The same conclusion was drawn for the variant genotype (AT+TT) and variant allele (T) of rs13137 when the clinically responsive group was compared with the non-responsive group (OR = 0.30, 95%CI: 0.14~0.63, P = 0.002, adjusted P = 0.010; OR = 0.54, 95%CI: 0.35~0.82, P = 0.005, adjusted P = 0.025). CONCLUSION Genetic polymorphisms of miRNAs are not associated with the risk of developing CD. The miR-146a (rs57095329) variant may increase the endoscopic activity of CD and the risk for stenosis or penetration. However, the miR-146a (rs2431697) variant may increase the risk of ileal involvement. The miR-21 (rs13137) variant may reduce the risk of ileal involvement and the risk of stenosis or penetration. The miR-124 (rs531564) variant may reduce the risk of ileal involvement. Among patients receiving UST treatment, the miR-146a (rs2431697) variant may increase the clinical response by week 8. However, both the miR-155 (rs767649) and miR-21 (rs13137) variants may decrease the clinical response by week 8.
Humans ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Crohn Disease/pathology* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Middle Aged ; Asian People/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Young Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Adolescent ; East Asian People

ObjectiveTo investigate the potential mechanism of Yiqi Yangyin Huoxue Formula （益气养阴活血方， YYHF） in the treatment of membranous nephropathy （MN） based on the NOX4-mediated stromal cell-derived factor-1α（SDF-1α）/CXC chemokine receptor 4 （CXCR4） signaling pathway. MethodsA total of 42 male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group （n=6） and modeling group （n=36）. The modeling rats were given a single injection of sheep antirat Fx1A （6 ml/kg） serum into the tail vein to establish MN model. Thirty-six rats with successful modeling were further divided into model group （normal saline， 10 ml/kg）， benazepril group （10 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， the medium-dose YYHF group （11.0 g·kg^-1·d^-1） and high-dose YYHF group （22.0 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， with 9 rats in each group. All groups received daily intragastric administration for 6 consecutive weeks. During the experimental period， the general condition of rats in each group was observed. After gavage administration finished， a fully automated biochemical analyzer was used to measure the 24-hour urine total protein （24 h-UTP） and serum biochemical parameters， including albumin （ALB）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， blood urea nitrogen （BUN）， serum creatinine （SCr）， total cholesterol （TC）， and triglyceride （TG）. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and periodic acid-silver metheramine （PASM） staining were used to observe the histopathological changes of renal tissues in each group of rats. The levels of superoxide dismutase （SOD） and malondialdehyde （MDA） in renal tissues were detected by ELISA. The protein expression levels of NOX4， SDF-1α， CXCR4， Nrf2， nuclear factor kappa B subunit p65 （NF-κB p65） and podocyte slit diaphragm protein nephrin in rat renal tissues were detected by Western Blotting. The mRNA expressions of NOX4， SDF-1α， CXCR4， Nrf2， NF-κB p65 and Nephrin in renal tissues were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. ResultsCompared to the blank group， rats in the model group exhibited typical features of MN， including lethargy， reduced activity， dull and coarse fur， marked edema， and massive proteinuria. Compared to the model group， these abnormal conditions were improved to varying degrees in all treatment groups. The high-dose YYHF group showed a level of improvement comparable to that of the benazepril group， with overall recovery superior to that of the medium-dose YYHF group. Compared to the blank group， the model group showed increased levels of 24 h-UTP， BUN， SCr， TC and TG， decreased level of ALB， increased levels of MDA and protein and mRNA expressions of NOX4， SDF-1α， CXCR4 and NF-κB p65 in renal tissue， along with decreased levels of SOD and protein and mRNA expressions of Nrf2， Nephrin （P＜0.01）， accompanied by severe renal pathological damage. Compared to the model group， the benazepril and the medium- and high-dose YYHF groups showed significant improvements in the above indicators （P＜0.01）， along with alleviation of renal pathological injury. The 24 h-UTP level in the high-dose YYHF group was lower than that in the medium-dose group （P＜0.01）， while no statistically significant difference was observed among the other treatment groups （P＞0.01）. ConclusionYYHF may alleviate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses by down-regulating the expression of NOX4 and inhibiting the SDF-1α/CXCR4-Nrf2 signaling pathway， thereby improving podocyte damage and protecting renal function.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of the detection kit based on MicroDrop microdroplet digital PCR platform that can identify mycoplasma pneumonia and common drug-resistance mutation,and throughout targeted next-generation sequencing(tNGS)in detecting common drug-resistance mutations of mycoplasma pneumonia.Methods:A total of 300 samples of clinical respiratory tract of pneumonia inpatients at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between 2023 and 2024 were collected.Both the detection kit for drug-resistance mutation of mycoplasma pneumoniae and the tNGS method were employed to detect drug-resistance mutation genes.For samples with inconsistent results,Sanger sequencing was used for verification.Results:For the 300 samples,the detection rates of positive mycoplasma pneumonia of the detection kit for drug-resistance mutation of mycoplasma pneumoniae and the tNGS method were respectively 87.00%and 78.67%,with a Kappa value of 0.711,indicating a relatively high level of agreement between the two methods.Among 25 samples with inconsistent results,Sanger sequencing was employed for validation.The results revealed that for samples with low-frequency gene mutations,the reagent kit maintained reliable detection capability,whereas tNGS exhibited missed detections.Thus,the reagent kit demonstrates superior performance in detecting low-frequency mutation samples.Conclusion:The detection rate of low-frequency mutation samples by the digital PCR-based mycoplasma pneumoniae drug-resistance mutation detection kit is higher than that of the tNGS method.This approach helps enhance the accuracy of detection results,providing a rapid and precise means of detecting drug-resistance genes for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To reassess the pathogenicity of copy number variants (CNVs) involving chromosomal microdeletions and microduplications classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS).Methods:This retrospective study analyzed 1 882 pregnant women who underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis for chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) at the First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022. The results were classified according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines, with 82 fetuses rated as VUS selected for the study. We analyzed invasive prenatal diagnostic indications, followed up on fetal ultrasound findings, parental origin identification results, and pregnancy outcomes, and reclassified VUS CNVs based on the latest evidence. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to the data.Results:(1) Among the 82 fetuses with VUS CNVs, prenatal diagnostic indications included fetal structural abnormalities detected by ultrasound (21 cases, 25.6%), abnormal non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) results (12 cases, 14.6%), high-risk serum screening (seven cases, 8.5%), advanced maternal age (≥35 years at expected delivery, 28 cases, 34.1%), and other indications (14 cases, 17.1%). Sixteen cases (19.5%) exhibited abnormal phenotypes, with seven pregnancies terminated due to severe structural abnormalities detected by prenatal ultrasound. Seventy-five live births were followed up for 25 (13-66) months. (2) Among the 82 cases, five fetuses had two VUS CNVs detected by CMA, while the remaining 77 had only one, totaling 87 VUS CNVs. Of these, 63 (72.4%) were chromosomal microduplications and 24 (27.6%) were chromosomal microdeletions. The size of the CNV segments ranged from 0.85 (0.05-5.61) Mb, with 82 segments less than 2 Mb. Parental origin identification was refused by 44 cases (53.7%), while 38 (46.3%) underwent the test, revealing eight (21.0%) de novo variants and 30 (78.9%) inherited from either parent (12 maternal and 18 paternal). (3) Among the 87 VUS CNVs, the ratings of 11 CNVs (12.6%) changed after re-evaluation. This included one 4p16.2 microdeletion and two 15q11.2 microdeletions being upgraded to pathogenic, one 16p13.11 microduplication being upgraded to likely pathogenic, one Xp22.31 microduplication and two 2q13 microdeletions being downgraded to likely benign, and four Xp22.31 microduplications being downgraded to benign. (4) Among the 16 fetuses with abnormal phenotypes, seven with prenatal abnormalities terminated pregnancies, including six with structural abnormalities and one with severe fetal growth restriction. After re-evaluation, one case was upgraded to pathogenic, while six remained VUS. Nine live births with postnatal abnormal phenotypes showed no change in classification after re-evaluation. Among the 66 cases (80.5%) without abnormal phenotypes, 10 had their classifications changed after re-evaluation. Conclusions:Fetuses with VUS CNVs often exhibit no significant abnormal phenotypes and have a relatively favorable prognosis, however, further floow-up is still needed. Parental origin identification can provide valuable insights for genetic counseling.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of primary liver cancer. Many patients who have been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma are already at an advanced stage, leading to very limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Therefore, the key to improving prognosis is early-stage diagnosis. In recent years, with deeper analysis of the underlying biological mechanisms of HCC, new diagnostic methods have emerged, including emerging serum markers, liquid biopsy, molecular diagnostics, and imaging techniques. This article reviews and analyzes the research progress on early-stage screening and explores their value and application prospects in the early predictive diagnosis of HCC..

Objective:To understand the quality of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports in Lu′an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (our hospital) and its change trend in recent years, and explore the methods of objectively evaluating the quality of ADR reports.Methods:According to the 20 evaluation indicators of the ADR report quality evaluation scoring table in the Appendixes 5 of Provisions for Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting and monitoring, the ADR reports submitted to the National Center for ADR Monitoring from 2013 to 2022 by our hospital were evaluated. The weighted technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) combined with rank-sum ratio (RSR) model was used to rank the quality of ADR reports into the following 5 grades: excellent, good, medium, qualified and unqualified, according to the weight of each evaluation index. The quality grading results were tested to determine the rationality of grading. Results:A total of 3 947 ADR reports were included in the analysis, including 1 361 new/serious ADR reports (34.5%), and the average score of quality evaluation index was 87.9. After 2016, the number of ADR reports and the proportion of reports with scores ≥ 80 increased significantly. Among the 20 evaluation indicators, 10 had a high pass rate, 7 had a medium or upper pass rate, and 3 had a low pass rate. The TOPSIS-RSR model was used to classify the quality of ADR reports. The overall proportions of excellent, good, moderate, qualified, and unqualified reports were 4.7% (186/3 947), 23.0% (908/3 947), 45.3% (1 787/3 947), 23.4% (925/3 947), and 3.6% (141/3 947), respectively. The homogeneity of variance test showed that each grade met the homogeneity of variance, and the analysis of variance results showed that the differences between every 2 grades were statistically significant ( P<0.001), indicating that the quality grading was reasonable. Conclusions:After 2016, the quantity and quality of ADR reports in our hospital have significant improvement, but there are still some evaluation indicators with low pass rate. Using the weighted TOPSIS-RSR model to grade the quality of ADR reports can more objectively reflect the quality of ADR reports.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of the detection kit based on MicroDrop microdroplet digital PCR platform that can identify mycoplasma pneumonia and common drug-resistance mutation,and throughout targeted next-generation sequencing(tNGS)in detecting common drug-resistance mutations of mycoplasma pneumonia.Methods:A total of 300 samples of clinical respiratory tract of pneumonia inpatients at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between 2023 and 2024 were collected.Both the detection kit for drug-resistance mutation of mycoplasma pneumoniae and the tNGS method were employed to detect drug-resistance mutation genes.For samples with inconsistent results,Sanger sequencing was used for verification.Results:For the 300 samples,the detection rates of positive mycoplasma pneumonia of the detection kit for drug-resistance mutation of mycoplasma pneumoniae and the tNGS method were respectively 87.00%and 78.67%,with a Kappa value of 0.711,indicating a relatively high level of agreement between the two methods.Among 25 samples with inconsistent results,Sanger sequencing was employed for validation.The results revealed that for samples with low-frequency gene mutations,the reagent kit maintained reliable detection capability,whereas tNGS exhibited missed detections.Thus,the reagent kit demonstrates superior performance in detecting low-frequency mutation samples.Conclusion:The detection rate of low-frequency mutation samples by the digital PCR-based mycoplasma pneumoniae drug-resistance mutation detection kit is higher than that of the tNGS method.This approach helps enhance the accuracy of detection results,providing a rapid and precise means of detecting drug-resistance genes for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To compare the segmenting efficacy of automatic segmentation models for advanced gastric cancer(AGC)on CT virtual monoenergetic images(VMI),non-linear blending images(NLBI)and mixed-energy images(MEI)based on 3D-nnU-Net.Methods Totally 216 cases of AGC were retrospectively enrolled,among them 185 cases were used to construct,train and validate models and divided into training set(n=154)and test set(n=31)at the ratio of 5∶1,while the other 31 cases were used as validation set to evaluate the generalization of the models.The 70 keV energy level VMI(VMI70 keV),NLBI and MEI were reconstructed with whole-abdominal dual-energy mode venous CT,and automatic segmentation models of AGC,including VMI70 keV,NLBI and MEI models were constructed using 3D-nnU-Net,respectively.Taken manually segmented results as golden standards,the efficacy of each model for segmenting all lesions and T2 stage lesions in test set and validation set were evaluated using Dice similarity coefficient(DSC),intersection over union(IoU)and average symmetric surface distance(ASSD).Results For all lesions in test and validation sets,DSC of 3 models were all＞0.80.DSC and IoU of VMI70 keV and NLBI models were both higher,while their ASSD was lower than those of MEI model(all P＜0.05).For T2 stage AGC in both test set and validation set(each n=5),DSC of MEI model was lower than that of VMI70 keV and NLBI models(both P＜0.05),while IoU of MEI model was lower than that of VMI70 keV model(P＜0.05),and its ASSD was higher than that of NLBI model(P＜0.05).Conclusion All 3D-nnU-Net-based VMI70 keV,NLBI and MEI models could effectively segment AGC on dual-energy CT images,and the segmentation efficacy of the former two were better.

Objective To investigate the expression levels and mutation status of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha(PIK3CA)in endometrial cancer(EC)and evaluate its association with lymph node metastasis in EC.Methods We retrosepctively collected and analyzed EC genetic mutation testing data submitted to the Molecular Detection Center,The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between July 2020 and June 2022.The mutation rate of PIK3CA gene was calculated based on the sequencing results of EC patients,and the correlation between PIK3CA mutations and clinical pathological parameters,as well as protein expression consistency,was analyzed accordingly.Results A total of 97 EC patients were enrolled in this study,and PIK3CA mutations were identified in approximately 48.5％(47 out of 97 cases).The rate of lymph node metastasis in patients with PIK3CA mutations was higher than that in patients with wild-type PIK3CA(21.3％vs.6.0％,P=0.027).Findings from univariate and multivariate logistic analyses indicated that histological subtype Ⅱ(odds ratio[OR]=5.51;95％CI,1.08-28.06;P=0.040),positive result for lymphovascular space invasion(LVSI)(OR=7.96;95％CI,1.37-46.44;P=0.021),and PIK3CA mutation(OR=8.58;95％CI,1.51-48.84;P=0.015)were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis in EC.In addition,the receiver-operating characteristic(ROC)curves demonstrated that the combined use of clinicopathological parameters and PIK3CA mutations could more accurately predict lymph node metastasis in EC,with an area under the curve of 0.824(95％CI,0.678-0.970).It is noteworthy that there was a high consistency between PIK3CA mutations and its protein expression,and EC patients with positive expression of PIK3CA protein had a higher rate of lymph node metastasis(53.8％vs.9.1％,P=0.078).Conclusion PIK3CA somatic mutations are strongly correlated with lymph node metastasis in EC.