ObjectiveTo investigate the whole genomic characteristics and phylogenetic relationships of clinical isolates of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) in diarrhea outpatients in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. MethodsBased on the diarrheal disease surveillance network in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, whole-genome sequencing was performed on a total of 55 EAEC strains isolated from fecal samples of the diarrhea outpatients from January 2015 to December 2019. The genome analyses based on raw sequencing data encompassed genome size, coding genes, dispersed repeat sequences, genomic islands, and protein coding regions, and pan-genome analyses were conducted simultaneously. Contigs sequences assays were performed to analyze molecular characteristics including serotypes, antibiotic resistance genes, and virulence factors. The phylogenetic clusters and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were identified, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. ResultsEAEC exhibited an open pan-genome. The predominant serotype of EAEC in diarrhea outpatients in Pudong New Area was O130:H27, and the carriage rate of β-lactam resistance genes was the highest (67.27%, 37/55). A total of 29 virulence factors and 106 virulence genes were identified, phylogenic group B1 was the predominant group, and clonal group CC31 was the dominant clonal group. The strain distribution was highly heterogeneous. ConclusionThe genomic characteristics of EAEC displayed significant strain polymorphism. It is necessary to develop effective strategies for differential diagnosis and improve detection capabilities for infection with EAEC of different serotypes and genotypes.

Salvia miltiorrhiza (S. miltiorrhiza) represents a crucial component of traditional Chinese medicine, demonstrating effects on blood circulation activation and stasis removal, and has been widely utilized in asthma treatment. This study isolated a novel phenolic acid (S1) from S. miltiorrhiza and investigated its anti-asthmatic activity and underlying mechanisms for the first time. An allergic asthma (AA) model was established using ovalbumin (OVA). The mechanism of S1's effects on AA was investigated using multi-factor joint analysis, flow cytometry, and co-culture systems to facilitate clinical asthma treatment. S1 (10 or 20 mg·kg^-1) was administered daily to mice with OVA-induced AA (OVA-AA) during days 21-25. The study examined airway responsiveness, lung damage, inflammation, and levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), PGD2, interleukins (IL-4, 5, 10, 13, 17A), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), GM-CSF, CXCL1, CCL11, and mMCP-1. Additionally, mast cell (MC) activation and degranulation were explored, along with T helper type 17 (Th17)/Treg immune cells and TLR4 pathway biomarkers. The antagonistic activity of that specific antagonist of TLR4 (TAK-242) (1 µmol·L^-1), a specific TLR4 blocker, against S1 (10 µmol·L^-1) was examined in co-cultured 16HBE cells and bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) or splenic lymphocytes (SLs) induced with LPS (1 µg·mL^-1) to elucidate the TLR4 pathway's mediating role. S1 demonstrated reduced airway responsiveness, lung damage, and inflammation, with downregulation of IgE, PGD2, interleukins, TNF-α, GM-CSF, CXCL1, CCL11, and mMCP-1. It also impeded MC activation and degranulation, upregulated IL-10, and influenced Th17/Treg immune cell transformation following OVA challenge. Furthermore, S1 inhibited the TLR4 pathway in OVA-AA mice, and TLR4 antagonism enhanced S1's positive effects. Analysis using an OVA-AA mouse model demonstrated that S1 alleviates AA clinical symptoms, restores lung function, and inhibits airway response. S1's therapeutic effects occur through regulation of Th17/Treg immune cells and inflammation, attributable at least partially to the TLR4 pathway. This study provides molecular justification for S1 in AA treatment.

BACKGROUND:Patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture may have nutritional risks during proximal femoral nail anti-rotation surgery,and a clinical predictive model is established based on nutritional assessment tools. OBJECTIVE:To establish the nomogram of the nutritional risk prediction model for patients with intertrochanteric fracture after proximal femoral nail anti-rotation fixation and evaluate the accuracy of the model. METHODS:From December 2018 to July 2022,patients with femoral intertrochanteric fractures who underwent proximal femoral nail anti-rotation fixation in First Department of Orthopedics,Second Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College were selected as the study subjects.The nutritional risk status of patients was assessed using nutritional risk screening 2002.Logistic regression was used to build the model.The receiver operating characteristic curve,Calibration plot calibration curve,and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to evaluate the discrimination,calibration and clinical applicability of the prediction model.The model was visualized using Nomogram diagrams. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Seventy-six patients were included according to the inclusion criteria.The incidence of nutritional risk was 80%after being assessed using nutritional risk screening 2002.(2)The results of Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age≥77 years old,body mass index<22.80 kg/m2,upper arm circumference<25.01 cm,hemoglobin<98.51 g/L,albumin<31.61 g/L,and prealbumin<138.56 g/L were all independent risk factors for nutritional risk(P<0.05).(3)The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.919(95%CI:0.843-0.994).(4)The results of the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test displayed that nutritional risk prediction value was high.(5)It is concluded that the nutritional risk assessment model constructed in this study has a good degree of discrimination and calibration,and has a certain predictive ability,which can be used as a reference tool for nutritional risk assessment of patients after proximal femoral nail anti-rotation fixation.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with lower cervical fracture is often categorized into unstable fracture, with a high incidence of neurological injury and a high rate of disability and morbidity. As factors such as shoulder occlusion may affect the accuracy of X-ray imaging diagnosis, it is often easily misdiagnosed at the primary diagnosis. Non-operative treatment has complications such as bone nonunion and the possibility of secondary neurological damage, while the timing, access and choice of surgical treatment are still controversial. Currently, there are no clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture with or without dislocation. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate Clinical guidelines for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combined with lower cervical fracture in adults ( version 2024) in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine, scientificity and practicality, in which 11 recommendations were put forward in terms of the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, typing and treatment, etc, to provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture.

Objectives:To observe the clinical efficacy of anterior cervical V-osteotomy Y-decompression and fusion(ACVYF)for treating ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament(OPLL)in cervical spine.Meth-ods:The clinical data of 60 patients with single-segment vertebral level OPLL who underwent surgical treat ment in Luoyang Orthopedic Traumatological Hospital of He'nan Province from June 2018 to October 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.Among them,30 cases were treated with ACVYF operation(ACVYF group),in-cluding 18 men and 12 women,aged 47-65 years(61.0±6.4 years),with a body mass index(BMI)of 16.8-28.1kg/m2(23.67±2.86kg/m2)and a disease duration of 10-80 months(37.5±20.1 months),whose surgical seg-ments fell in C3 in 2 cases,C4 in 5 cases,C5 in 13 cases,C6 in 10 cases.The other 30 cases were treat-ed with anterior cervical corpectomy decompression and fusion(ACCF)operation(ACCF group),including 19 men and 11 women,aged 44-68 years(59.5±6.8 years),with a BMI of 16.6-26.4kg/m2(23.30±2.56kg/m2)and a disease duration of 13-72 months(35.8±18.8 months),whose surgical segments fell in C3 in 3 cases,C4 in 6 cases,C5 in 12 cases,C6 in 9 cases.The two groups were comparable in gender,age,BMI,disease dura-tion,surgical section and other general information with no statistical difference(P＞0.05).The operation time,intraoperative bleeding,and complications of the two groups were compared;The cervical Japanese Or-thopaedic Association(JOA)scores were recorded before operation,at 1 week,and 3,6 and 12 months after operation,and the JOA score improvement rate was calculated at postoperative 12 months;The height of the fusion area and C2-7 Cobb angle were measured on X-ray films at pre-operation,1 week,3 months,6 months and 12 months after operation.The fusion condition of implants were observed and evaluated on X-ray film or CT image at 3 months,6 months and 12 months after operation.Results:The operation was completed smoothly in both groups.The operation time and intraoperative bleeding were 88.2±19.7min and 133.3±24.4mL respectively in the ACVYF group,which were 91.5+24.1min and 137.7±29.4mL in the ACCF group,and there was no statistical difference between the two groups(P＞0.05).Three cases of dysphagia occurred in both groups after surgery,which resolved spontaneously after 1-2 weeks.No complications occurred during the follow-up period,and there was no statistically significant difference in the complication rates between the two groups(P＞0.05).The JOA scores of both groups at all time points after surgery showed significant improvement compared with those before surgery(P＜0.05),and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups at the same time points(P＞0.05);The height of the fusion zone and C2-7 Cobb angle after operation were statistically different from those before operation(P＜0.05),and no significant difference was found between the two groups at preoperation,postoperative 1 week and 3 months(P＞0.05),while those of ACVYF group were bigger than ACCF group at postoperative 6 and 12 months(P＜0.05).The improvement rate of cervical JOA score at 12-month follow-up was(72.39±10.54)％in the ACVYF group and(75.92±10.39)％in the ACCF group,and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups(P＞0.05).The rate of implant fusion was better in the ACVYF group at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups(70.0％and 93.3％)than in the ACCF group(40.0％and 73.3％)(P＜0.05),and both groups had osseous fusion at 12 months postoperatively(P＞0.05).Conclusions:ACVYF can effectively relieve the compression of the posterior longitudinal ligament on the spinal cord at the vertebral level and improve the neurological function of the patients;Comparing with ACCF,ACVYF can better maintain the physiological curvature of the cervical vertebrae and speed up the fusion of the implants.

Objective:To evaluate the characteristics of vaginal flora between normal and abnormal pregnant women throughout pregnancy.Methods:Vaginal swab specimens were collected from pregnant women in the first (<14 gestation weeks, GW), second (14~28 GW) and third trimester (>28 GW) in Anqing, Anhui Province from February 2018 to February 2020. Pregnant women were divided into normal and abnormal groups according to all clinical diagnosis. The sequences of 16S rRNA gene (V3-V4) from vaginal swabs were analyzed using QIIME2 platform. The differences in the dominance of Lactobacillus, community state type (CST) transition, Alpha diversity and Beta diversity were analyzed. Diversity data after log transition were used in the analysis of linear mixed model. Results:A total of 34 pregnant women (10 normal and 24 abnormal) with 102 samples were included for analysis. The composition of vaginal flora between two groups: the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was the highest at the genus level and Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus iners was the top two species with high relative abundance. The dominance of Lactobacillus, Alpha diversity and transition of CST were also similar. Both groups had a gradually decreased trend of Alpha diversity with GW, and the Chao1, Observed species and Faith′s PD indexes′ were different in different GW ( P<0.05). All Beta diversity metrics in normal group had descending trend, with lower value of the index of first distance which implied a higher microbiota stability, while Bray-Curtis, Weighted UniFrac distance had ascending trend in abnormal group, indicating lower stability. Jaccard distance′s first distance was statistically differed among GW and Unweighted UniFrac distance′s differed between normal and abnormal groups. Conclusions:The first distance of Unweighte UniFrac distance in abnormal pregnant women is higher than that of normal pregnant women and the vaginal flora in abnormal group has lower stability.

Objective:To investigate the epidemic situation of drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis in Henan Province, evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and control measures, and provide a basis for formulating further prevention and control policies.Methods:From April to November 2021, a census of all diseased villages registered in 112 drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis counties (cities, districts, hereinafter referred to as counties) of 17 provincial-level cities and 9 provincial-level counties (cities) in Henan Province was conducted to collect the basic information of diseased counties and villages. The content of fluoride in drinking water and the prevalence of dental fluorosis in children aged 8 - 12 years old were measured on a village by village basis.Results:By the end of 2021, drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis was prevalent in 112 diseased counties in Henan Province, involving 17 450 diseased villages. Among them, 17 433 villages had implemented measures to reduce fluoride and improve water quality, with a water improvement rate of 99.90% (17 433/17 450). There were 14 920 villages with qualified water, and the qualified rate of water fluoride was 85.50% (14 920/17 450). There were a total of 4 232 water improvement projects in all diseased villages, with a normal operation rate of 97.09% (4 109/4 232) and a qualified rate of 93.03% (3 937/4 232) for water fluoride in the projects. The total detection rate of dental fluorosis in children in the province was 9.64% (39 391/408 584), with moderate to severe dental fluorosis accounted for 8.08% (3 182/39 391), the dental fluorosis index was 0.18. The prevalence of fluorosis was negative.Conclusions:In 2021, the prevalence of drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis is widespread in Henan Province, and measures to reduce fluoride and improve water quality in diseased villages have been basically implemented. However, the fluoride content of water in some villages still does not meet the standard, and some water improvement projects cannot operate normally throughout the year. In the future, it is necessary to address the above issues one by one and consolidate the achievements in prevention and control of drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis.

Objective:To study the characteristics of vaginal microbiota in pregnant women with premature rupture of membranes (PROM) and to establish prediction models for PROM.Methods:This study involved 35 women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), 180 with term premature rupture of membranes (TPROM) and 255 term birth cases without premature rupture of membranes (TBWPROM, control group). The V3-V4 hypervariable region sequences in the vaginal samples collected at 16-28 weeks of gestation were detected by 16S rRNA gene next-generation sequencing. The differences in Alpha and Beta diversity, and the attributes and metabolic function prediction of each recognized species among the three groups were analyzed. Subsequently, a random forest model was used to establish the prediction models for PROM using vaginal microbiota species and environmental risk factors.Results:Compared with the control group, the Alpha diversity of the PPROM group was higher (Observed features, P=0.022; Faith_pd index, P=0.024) and Beta diversity was also significantly different (Unweighted UniFrac, P=0.010; Jaccard index, P=0.008). In PPROM cases, Megasphaera genomosp. typeⅠ was significantly increased ( P=0.017) and Lactobacillus mulieris was significantly decreased ( P=0.003). In the patients with TPROM, Megasphaera was significantly increased ( P=0.009) and Lactobacillus mulieris was significantly decreased ( P=0.002). In terms of functional pathways, sulfur oxidation ( P=0.021), methanogenesis from acetate ( P=0.036), L-histidine biosynthesis ( P=0.009), adenosylcobalamin biosynthesis ( P=0.041) and fucose degradation ( P=0.001) were significantly increased in patients with PPROM; L-histidine biosynthesis ( P<0.001) and fucose degradation ( P=0.030) were significantly increased in patients with TPROM. The prediction models were established using the random forest model with vaginal microbiota species and environmental risk factors and the prediction model for PPROM performed well [AUC: 0.739 (95%CI: 0.609-0.869), sensitivity: 0.928, specificity: 0.659, positive predictive value: 0.750, negative predictive value: 0.906], which had a certain reference value. Conclusions:Vaginal microbiota might be related to the development and progression of PROM. Studying the differences in vaginal microbiota might provide a new idea for the prevention and treatment of PROM. Functional prediction provided a direction for further research on the mechanism of PROM. The established prediction model could prevent the occurrence of PPROM and promote maternal and infant health.

Abstract OBJECTIVE To explore the material basis and mechanism of Crataegi Fructus in improving metabolic hypertension(MH) by using network pharmacology and molecular docking technique.METHODS The components of Crataegi Fructus were collected by HERB, ETCM database and literature survey; screening all ingredients of Crataegi Fructus to improve MH targets through databases such as SwissTargetPrediction and GeneCards; build "active ingredient-target-disease" network of Crataegi Fructus with Cytoscape software; DAVID was used to analyze GO enrichment and KEGG pathway. The core components and core targets were verified by molecular docking with Autodock software. RESULTS The total of 89 active components were screened from Crataegi Fructus and acted on 84 targets. Among them, the core active components of Crataegi Fructus to improve MH were maslinic acid, fomefficinic acid B, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, methyl-n-nonylketone, apigenin, ursolic acid, etc. The core targets were CYP19A1, PPARA, ESR1, PTGS2, PPARG, NR3C1, MMP9, TNF, etc. The mechanism of action mainly involved multiple signaling pathways such as inflammation, glycolipid metabolism, and vascular endothelial function. Molecular docking showed that the core active ingredients of Crataegi Fructus had high affinity with core targets. CONCLUSION Crataegi Fructus may regulate multiple signaling pathways such as TNF, IL-17, AGE-RAGE, HIF-1, cGMP-PKG through multi-component regulation, thereby inhibiting inflammatory response, improving glucose and lipid metabolism abnormalities, and improving vascular endothelial function, so as to comprehensively exert the role of improving MH in various aspects.