BACKGROUND: Spicy food consumption has been reported to be inversely associated with mortality from multiple diseases. However, the effect of spicy food intake on the incidence of vascular diseases in the Chinese population remains unclear. This study was conducted to explore this association. METHODS: This study was performed using the large-scale China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) prospective cohort of 486,335 participants. The primary outcomes were vascular disease, ischemic heart disease (IHD), major coronary events (MCEs), cerebrovascular disease, stroke, and non-stroke cerebrovascular disease. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the association between spicy food consumption and incident vascular diseases. Subgroup analysis was also performed to evaluate the heterogeneity of the association between spicy food consumption and the risk of vascular disease stratified by several basic characteristics. In addition, the joint effects of spicy food consumption and the healthy lifestyle score on the risk of vascular disease were also evaluated, and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the reliability of the association results. RESULTS: During a median follow-up time of 12.1 years, a total of 136,125 patients with vascular disease, 46,689 patients with IHD, 10,097 patients with MCEs, 80,114 patients with cerebrovascular disease, 56,726 patients with stroke, and 40,098 patients with non-stroke cerebrovascular disease were identified. Participants who consumed spicy food 1-2 days/week (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = [0.93, 0.97], P <0.001), 3-5 days/week (HR = 0.96, 95% CI = [0.94, 0.99], P = 0.003), and 6-7 days/week (HR = 0.97, 95% CI = [0.95, 0.99], P = 0.002) had a significantly lower risk of vascular disease than those who consumed spicy food less than once a week ( Ptrend <0.001), especially in those who were younger and living in rural areas. Notably, the disease-based subgroup analysis indicated that the inverse associations remained in IHD ( Ptrend = 0.011) and MCEs ( Ptrend = 0.002) risk. Intriguingly, there was an interaction effect between spicy food consumption and the healthy lifestyle score on the risk of IHD ( Pinteraction = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS Our findings support an inverse association between spicy food consumption and vascular disease in the Chinese population, which may provide additional dietary guidance for the prevention of vascular diseases.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Vascular Diseases/etiology* ; Risk Factors ; China/epidemiology* ; Adult ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Cerebrovascular Disorders/epidemiology* ; East Asian People

AIM: To understand the current status and differences in visual acuity of children of the same age from different regions of Xi'an, and to take an effective basis for the prevention of children's myopia.METHODS: Random stratified sampling was used to select the uncorrected distance visual acuity and computed dioptric data of 41 285 children aged 6-12 from 6 towns, 10 urban and rural areas and 112 country schools screened by Xi'an Central Hospital in December 2022.RESULTS: The myopia detection rate in different regions of Xi'an is 47.16% in towns, 38.59% in urban and rural areas, and 32.29% in the country, and the total myopia rate is 37.50%. The myopia rate of 6-12 years old in towns is higher than that in urban and rural areas, and that of urban and rural areas is higher than that of country; the myopia rate of girls is higher than that of boys; myopia rate increases with age; mild myopia: the myopia rate in towns is significantly higher than that of the urban and rural areas and the country; high myopia: the myopia rate in the country is significantly higher than that of the towns and the urban and rural areas. The total rate of deficient hyperopia reserves in different regions of Xi'an is 92.08% in towns, 93.67% in urban and rural areas, and 90.92% in the country, and the total rate of deficient hyperopia reserves is 92.09%. The rate of deficient hyperopia reserves at the age of 6-12 is higher in the urban and rural areas than in the towns, and higher in the towns than in the country; the total rate of deficient hyperopia reserve is higher in girls than in boys; it is the peak period of the development of hyperopia reserve rate before the age of 8.CONCLUSION: The total myopia rate and the total vision reserve deficiency rate of 6-12 years old in different regions of Xi'an are different, and 8-9 years old is the accelerated period of myopia development, and the peak of deficient hyperopia reserve is before the age of 8 years old. With the growth of age, the myopia rate shows a certain growth trend, and the rate of deficient hyperopia reserve shows a decreasing trend after reaching the peak. The total myopia rate and insufficient acuity reserve rate of girls are higher than those of boys.

Objective:To summarize the experience of robot-assisted enucleation of tumors located in uncinate process of pancreas.Methods:This is a retrospective case series study. The clinical data of patients with robot-assisted enucleation of tumors located in the uncinate process of pancreas at the Department of Gastroenterology and Pancreatic Surgery,Zhejiang Provincial People′s Hospital from June 2019 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 16 cases were enrolled,including 10 males and 6 females,with an age( M(IQR)) of 56(21)years (range: 28 to 77 years),and body mass index of 22.4(2.3)kg/m 2 (range:19.8 to 25.6 kg/m 2). Follow-up was asked every 6 to 12 months after the first 3-month postoperative follow-up through out-patient service or via telephone. Results:In total 16 cases,there were 11 cases with pancreatic enucleation,and 5 cases with resection of the uninate process. The operation time was 70(60) minutes (range: 40 to 165 minutes),and the blood loss was 30(13)ml (range: 10 to 80 ml). The rate of pancreatic fistula was 5/16. The length of stay was 8(6)days (range: 5 to 33 days). The pathological finding included non-functional neuroendocrine tumor( n=3),insulinoma( n=2),introductal papillary mucinous neoplasm ( n=5),solid pseudopapillary neoplasm ( n=2),mucinous cystadenoma ( n=1),serous cystadenoma ( n=2),pseudocyst ( n=1). Follow-up as of March 12, 2024, the follow-up time was 16(12)months (range: 3 to 41 months). All patients had no new onset diabetes and no dyspepsia. Conclusion:Robot-assisted surgical system can be used for local resection of uncinate process tumors of pancreas,and the quality of life of patients can be improved.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in the treatment of critically ill children with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE).Methods:It is a retrospective cohort study. The children with ANE admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit of 4 Chinese tertiary hospitals from December 2022 to November 2023 were divided into conventional treatment group and tocilizumab group, and the comparison between groups was performed by using Mann ‐ Whitney U test or Chi-square test. Results:Among 21 cases of severe ANE, there were 11 males with the onset age of 65 (27, 113) months. The duration from onset to PICU admission was 2 (1, 2) days. There were 13 cases of ultra-high fever (greater than 40 ℃), including 18 cases of convulsions, and 19 cases with a GCS score of less than 8 points. The causative agent was novel coronavirus Omicron in 7 cases and influenza A in 14 cases. All cases had central respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Of the 21 cases, 18 were shock, 15 were coagulopathy, 10 were kidney injury and 13 were liver dysfunction. Of these hospitalized patients, 8 children with ANE were treated with tocilizumab. Eight cases received continuous blood purification (CBP) treatment, 5 of them were combined with plasmapheresis. Serum cytokine levels were elevated in 21 children with ANE, including (interleukin, IL)-6 and IL-8 (61 (22, 1 513) and 68 (5, 296) ng/L). There were 14 cases (67%) deaths, including 11 cases in the conventional treatment group and 3 cases in the tocilizumab group. There was no significant difference in the mortality rate between the two groups ( P=0.056). Tocilizumab-related rash or other adverse events were not observed. Conclusions:The motality of critically ill ANE patients was high. The combination of Tocilizumab with conventional treatment did not reduce the motality of severe ANE patients, and no adverse reactions of tocilizumab were observed.

Objective:To summarize the experience of robot-assisted enucleation of tumors located in uncinate process of pancreas.Methods:This is a retrospective case series study. The clinical data of patients with robot-assisted enucleation of tumors located in the uncinate process of pancreas at the Department of Gastroenterology and Pancreatic Surgery,Zhejiang Provincial People′s Hospital from June 2019 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 16 cases were enrolled,including 10 males and 6 females,with an age( M(IQR)) of 56(21)years (range: 28 to 77 years),and body mass index of 22.4(2.3)kg/m 2 (range:19.8 to 25.6 kg/m 2). Follow-up was asked every 6 to 12 months after the first 3-month postoperative follow-up through out-patient service or via telephone. Results:In total 16 cases,there were 11 cases with pancreatic enucleation,and 5 cases with resection of the uninate process. The operation time was 70(60) minutes (range: 40 to 165 minutes),and the blood loss was 30(13)ml (range: 10 to 80 ml). The rate of pancreatic fistula was 5/16. The length of stay was 8(6)days (range: 5 to 33 days). The pathological finding included non-functional neuroendocrine tumor( n=3),insulinoma( n=2),introductal papillary mucinous neoplasm ( n=5),solid pseudopapillary neoplasm ( n=2),mucinous cystadenoma ( n=1),serous cystadenoma ( n=2),pseudocyst ( n=1). Follow-up as of March 12, 2024, the follow-up time was 16(12)months (range: 3 to 41 months). All patients had no new onset diabetes and no dyspepsia. Conclusion:Robot-assisted surgical system can be used for local resection of uncinate process tumors of pancreas,and the quality of life of patients can be improved.

OBJECTIVES: Endothelium-dependent vasodilation dysfunction is the pathological basis of diabetic macroangiopathy. The utilization and adaptation of endothelial cells to high glucose determine the functional status of endothelial cells. Glycolysis pathway is the major energy source for endothelial cells. Abnormal glycolysis plays an important role in endothelium-dependent vasodilation dysfunction induced by high glucose. Pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 (PKM2) is one of key enzymes in glycolysis pathway, phosphorylation of PKM2 can reduce the activity of pyruvate kinase and affect the glycolysis process of glucose. TEPP-46 can stabilize PKM2 in its tetramer form, reducing its dimer formation and phosphorylation. Using TEPP-46 as a tool drug to inhibit PKM2 phosphorylation, this study aims to explore the impact and potential mechanism of phosphorylated PKM2 (p-PKM2) on endothelial dependent vasodilation function in high glucose, and to provide a theoretical basis for finding new intervention targets for diabetic macroangiopathy. METHODS: The mice were divided into 3 groups: a wild-type (WT) group (a control group, C57BL/6 mice) and a db/db group (a diabetic group, db/db mice), which were treated with the sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution (solvent) by gavage once a day, and a TEPP-46 group (a treatment group, db/db mice+TEPP-46), which was gavaged with TEPP-46 (30 mg/kg) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution once a day. After 12 weeks of treatment, the levels of p-PKM2 and PKM2 protein in thoracic aortas, plasma nitric oxide (NO) level and endothelium-dependent vasodilation function of thoracic aortas were detected. High glucose (30 mmol/L) with or without TEPP-46 (10 μmol/L), mannitol incubating human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) for 72 hours, respectively. The level of NO in supernatant, the content of NO in cells, and the levels of p-PKM2 and PKM2 protein were detected. Finally, the effect of TEPP-46 on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation was detected at the cellular and animal levels. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the levels of p-PKM2 in thoracic aortas of the diabetic group increased (P<0.05). The responsiveness of thoracic aortas in the diabetic group to acetylcholine (ACh) was 47% lower than that in the control group (P<0.05), and that in TEPP-46 treatment group was 28% higher than that in the diabetic group (P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in the responsiveness of thoracic aortas to sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Compared with the control group, the plasma NO level of mice decreased in the diabetic group, while compared with the diabetic group, the phosphorylation of PKM2 in thoracic aortas decreased and the plasma NO level increased in the TEPP-46 group (both P<0.05). High glucose instead of mannitol induced the increase of PKM2 phosphorylation in HUVECs and reduced the level of NO in supernatant (both P<0.05). HUVECs incubated with TEPP-46 and high glucose reversed the reduction of NO production and secretion induced by high glucose while inhibiting PKM2 phosphorylation (both P<0.05). At the cellular and animal levels, TEPP-46 reversed the decrease of eNOS (ser1177) phosphorylation induced by high glucose (both P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS p-PKM2 may be involved in the process of endothelium-dependent vasodilation dysfunction in Type 2 diabetes by inhibiting p-eNOS (ser1177)/NO pathway.
Animals ; Humans ; Mice ; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium/pharmacology* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism* ; Endothelium, Vascular/metabolism* ; Glucose/metabolism* ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nitric Oxide/metabolism* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III/metabolism* ; Phosphorylation ; Pyruvate Kinase/metabolism* ; Vasodilation

Objective:To compare the perioperative outcomes between robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy(RPD)and laparoscopic pancreaticoduode-nectomy(LPD)in patients aged ≥65 years. Methods:The clinical data of 130 patients aged ≥65 years who received minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy(MIPD)at Department of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery,Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into the RPD group(n=66)and the LPD group(n=64)according to the operation method,and the perioperative clinical data were compared between the 2 groups. Results:Compared with the LPD group,the average age of patients in the RPD group was higher than that of the LPD group[(71.95±4.73)years vs(70.39±3.9)years,P＜0.05];the RPD group had more patients with diabetes(39.4％vs 18.8％,P＜0.05)and cardiopulmonary diseases(37.9％vs 17.2％,P＜0.05);the RPD group had shorter operation time[(272.91± 68.38)min vs(362.81±78.24)min,P＜0.05]and less intraoperative blood loss[median(range):1 00 mL(50-200 mL)vs 1 50 mL(1 00-200 mL),P＜0.05)];the RPD group had higher incidence of chylous fistula(1 2.1％vs 1.6％,P＜0.05)but lower incidence of surgical morbidity(37.9％vs 46.9％),serious complications(19.7％vs 34.4％),postoperative pancreatic fistula(12.1％vs 17.2％),biliary fistula(3.0％vs 3.1％),abdominal infection(10.6％vs 14.1％),postoperative bleeding(4.5％vs 4.5％),and postoperative cardiopulmonary complications(1 2.1％vs 20.3％)with no statistically significant difference(P＞0.05);the RPD group waited shorter time before restarting diet[(3.97±1.59)d vs(5.34±2.56)d,P＜0.05]. Conclusion:MIPD is safe and feasible in patients aged ≥65 years.The incidence of perioperative complications is similar between the 2 groups.Compared with LPD,RPD has shorter operation time,less intraoperative blood loss,and shorter duration before restarting diet after operation,which has certain clinical advantages.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of aquaporin 7 ( AQP7) and aquaporin 9 ( AQP9) genes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among ethnic Han Chinese population. METHODS: A case-control study involving 1194 subjects with T2DM and 1274 non-diabetic mellitus (NDM) subjects were enrolled. Genotypes of three SNPs (rs3758269 of AQP7 gene, rs16939881 and rs57139208 of AQP9 gene) were determined by using a MassArray method. The association of the three SNPs with T2DM was assess, and the correlation of glucose and lipid metabolism parameters with various SNP genotypes in the NDM group was analyzed. RESULTS: The allelic and genotypic frequencies of the three SNPs did not differ significantly between the two groups (P>0.05). Nor was there significant difference between the two groups with different genetic models (P>0.05). No significant association of genotypes of AQP7 gene rs3758269, AQP9 gene rs16939881 and rs57139208 with glucose and lipid metabolism parameters were observed in the NDM group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION The rs3758269 in AQP7 gene and rs16939881 and rs57139208 in AQP9 gene are not associated with the genetic susceptibility of T2DM among ethnic Han Chinese population.
Aquaporins/genetics* ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Tumor-targeted immunotherapy is a remarkable breakthrough, offering the inimitable advantage of specific tumoricidal effects with reduced immune-associated cytotoxicity. However, existing platforms suffer from low efficacy, inability to induce strong immunogenic cell death (ICD), and restrained capacity of transforming immune-deserted tumors into immune-cultivated ones. Here, an innovative platform, perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) nanoemulsions holding MnO₂ nanoparticles (MBP), was developed to orchestrate cancer immunotherapy, serving as a theranostic nanoagent for MRI/CT dual-modality imaging and advanced ICD. By simultaneously depleting the GSH and eliciting the ICD effect via high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, the MBP nanomedicine can regulate the tumor immune microenvironment by inducing maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and facilitating the activation of CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells. The synergistic GSH depletion and HIFU ablation also amplify the inhibition of tumor growth and lung metastasis. Together, these findings inaugurate a new strategy of tumor-targeted immunotherapy, realizing a novel therapeutics paradigm with great clinical significance.