ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of state-target formula Angelica and Safflower spot removal essence in the treatment of melasma. MethodsA randomized，double-blind，placebo-controlled parallel-group trial was conducted，selecting patients with Qi stagnation and blood stasis type of melasma who visited the dermatology outpatient department of Beijing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from September 2022 to February 2023. In accordance with the double-blind principle，a random number table was generated to randomly divide the patients into an experimental group （50 cases） and a control group （50 cases）. The experimental group applied the Angelica and Safflower spot removal essence topically，while the control group applied a placebo topically，with continuous treatment for 8 weeks and a follow-up of 1 month. Melasma Area and Severity Index （MASI），Physician Global Assessment （PGA），patient self-assessment scoring，VISIA detection and scoring were performed before medication and on the first day after stopping medication，and all adverse events were recorded. ResultsIn a study involving 100 patients，87 cases were included in the analysis. The experimental group consisted of 45 cases，with 5 dropouts，and the control group had 42 cases，with 8 dropouts. The baseline data of the patients in both groups were consistent，with no statistically significant differences. After treatment，the total effective rate of the experimental group was 75.56% （34/45），significantly higher than the control group's 2.38% （1/42），and the difference was statistically significant （χ²=48.38，P<0.01）. Compared with before treatment，after treatment，the MASI score，VISIA image spot，brown spot，and red area score of the experimental group patients were significantly reduced （P<0.05，P<0.01），while there was no statistically significant difference in the control group patients. Compared with the control group after treatment，the experimental group showed more significant improvement （P<0.05，P<0.01）. VISIA image analysis showed that after 8 weeks of treatment，the experimental group showed significant improvement in surface spots，deep spots，and red areas，while the control group remained unchanged or showed an increasing trend. 42.22% （19/45） of the experimental group had a PGA score of 3 or below，while 88.89% （40/45） had a PGA score of 4 or below. 80.95% （34/42） of the control group had a PGA score of 5 or above，and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant （χ²=38.26，P<0.01）. There was no statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate and adverse reaction rate within one month between the experimental group and the control group. ConclusionThe state-target formula Angelica and Safflower spot removal essence is clinically effective and safe in the treatment of melasma.

Objective To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of astragaloside Ⅳ(AS-Ⅳ)on the pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH)model induced by monocrotaline(MCT)/monocrotaline pyrrole(MCTP)in SD rats/human pulmonary artery endothelial cell(HPAEC).Methods In vivo experiment,60 male SD rats were randomly assigned to control group,PAH model group,AS-Ⅳ low-dose(20 mg/kg)group,AS-Ⅳ medium-dose(40 mg/kg)group,AS-Ⅳ high-dose(80 mg/kg)group,or sildenafil(Sil,100 mg/kg)group,with 10 rats in each group;except for the control group,PAH rat models were established by single intraperitoneal injection of MCT(60 mg/kg)in other groups.In vitro experiment,HPAECs were randomly assigned to control group,PAH model group,AS-Ⅳ low-dose(10 μmol/L)group,AS-Ⅳ medium-dose(20 μmol/L)group,MCTP+AS-Ⅳ high-dose(40 μmnol/L)group,or p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway inhibitor(SB203580,5 μmol/L)group;except for the control group,in vitro PAH cell models were established by MCTP(60 μg/mL)induction for 24 h in other groups.In vivo experiments,after 4 weeks of drug intervention,the right ventricular systolic pressure(RVSP)and mean pulmonary artery pressure(mPAP)of rats were measured by hemodynamic methods,the right ventricle hypertrophy index was measured by weighing methods,the percentage of pulmonary arteriole wall thickness to outer diameter(WT％)and percentage of the wall area to total vascular area(WA％)were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining,the expression of cysteine aspartic acid specific protease 3(caspase 3)protein in lung tissue was observed by immunohistochemistry(IHC),and the apoptosis of lung tissue cells was detected by TUNEL assay.In vitro experiments,JC-1 staining was used to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential in cells,and immunofluorescence was used to detect caspase 3 protein expression.In vitro and in vivo experiments,Western blotting was used to detect the expression of caspase 3,B-cell lymphoma gene 2(Bcl-2),Bcl-2 associated X protein(Bax),p38 MAPK,and phosphorylated p38 MAPK proteins in lung tissue and HPAECs.Results In vivo experiments,the RVSP,mPAP,and right ventricle hypertrophy index were decreased in the Sil group and each dose group of AS-Ⅳ(all P＜0.01);the WA％and WT％of each dose group of AS-Ⅳ were decreased(all P＜0.01),the expression of caspase 3 protein in lung tissue was decreased(all P＜0.01),and the apoptosis of lung tissue cells was decreased(all P＜0.01).In vitro experiments showed that after intervention with each dose of AS-Ⅳ and SB203580,the mitochondrial membrane potential of HPAEC was increased(all P＜0.01)and the expression of caspase 3 was decreased(all P＜0.01).In vivo and in vitro experiments,each dose of AS-Ⅳand SB203580 reduced the expression of Bax and phosphorylated p38 MAPK proteins,and increased the expression of Bcl-2 protein(all P＜0.01).Conclusion AS-Ⅳ reduces apoptosis by inhibiting p38 MAPK signaling pathway,improving PAH in SD rats.

Objective To investigate the risk factors of diabetic retinopathy(DR)in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)and establish the related prediction model.Methods A total of 426 elderly T2DM patients admitted to the Endocrinology Department of our hospital from January 2021 to March 2023 were enrolled in this study and divided into DR group(n=104)and T2DM group(n=322)according to the occurrence of DR.Results The DM duration≥10 years,hypertension,DPN,smoking,HbA1c,SUA,and high myopia were higher in the DR group than in the T2DM group(P<0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that DR was positively correlated with DM duration≥10 years,HbA1c,hypertension,DPN,smoking,SUA and high myopia in elderly T2DM patients(P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that DM duration≥10 years,HbA1c,hypertension,DPN,smoking history,SUA,and high myopia were risk factors for DR in elderly T2DM patients.The analysis of the working characteristic curve of the subjects showed that the area under the curve for the occurrence of DR in elderly T2DM patients was 0.863,with a sensitivity of 78.8%and a specificity of 81.1%.Conclusions The duration of diabetes≥10 years,hypertension,DPN,smoking,HbA1c,SUA and high myopia are risk factors for the occurrence of DR in elderly patients with T2DM.The prediction model of DR has good accuracy in elderly patients with T2DM.

Objective:To compare the anti-androgenic effect of cyproterone acetate (CPA) and spironolactone (SPL) on male-to-female transsexuals.Methods:From January 2012 to September 2021, 185 male-to-female transsexuals (95 using CPA and 90 using SPL) who visited the Peking University Third Hospital and under stable medication for ≥3 months were enrolled, aged 16 to 40 (23±5) years. General information and laboratory indicators of the last visit were collected for a cross-sectional study.Results:The median doses of antiandrogens in the CPA group and SPL group were 25 mg/d and 80 mg/d, respectively. And the median dose of oral estradiol valerate in both groups was 2 mg/d. Testosterone level in the CPA group was significantly lower than the SPL group [0.7 (0.7-1.5) nmol/L vs. 13.2(6.7-18.4) nmol/L, U= 6 970.500, P<0.001]. The CPA group also had better subjective effects on testicular atrophy, erection decrease, body hair decrease, skin softening and figure feminization (all P<0.05). The prolactin level of CPA group was significantly higher than that of SPL group [21.5 (12.6-30.1) ng/ml vs. 11.9 (7.7-20.0) ng/ml, U= 2 053.500, P<0.001]. Conclusions:CPA has a more significant effect on lowering testosterone levels than SPL, and is better than SPL in terms of testicular atrophy, erection decrease, body hair decrease, skin softening and figure feminization, albeit with a potentially higher risk of hyperprolactinemia.

Objective:To construct an intelligent foreign bodies detection model based on Faster R-convolutional neural network in posterior-anterior chest X-ray and evaluate the performance of the model.Methods:Totally 5 567 adult posterior-anterior DR chest radiographs from Zhejiang Provincial People′s Hospital and Chun′an County People′s Hospital from June 2019 to March 2020, with 4 247 foreign body-containing chest radiographs were analyzed retrospectively. All data were randomly divided into training set (2 911 foreign body-containing), validation set ( n=1 456, 733 foreign body-containing, 723 free of foreign body) and testing set ( n=1 200, 603 foreign body-containing, 597 free of foreign body). The reference gold standard was set as the results of each chest radiography with foreign body annotated by two radiology residents and reviewed and corrected by a senior radiographer. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve were used to analyze the efficiency of the deep learning model to distinguish the presence or absence of foreign bodies on chest radiography in the testing set. The precision-recall curve and mean precision (mAP) were used to analyze the stability of the model at different levels. Finally, the influence of different locations, patient gender, and patient age on the foreign body recall of the deep learning model were analyzed. Results:In the testing set, the sensitivity of the deep learning model in diagnosing whether chest radiograph contained foreign bodies was 93.2%(562/603), the specificity was 92.6%(553/597), and the F1 score was 0.94. The area under the ROC curve was 0.97, and the mAP value was 0.69. For foreign bodies in different locations, the recall rates of foreign bodies in lung field and outside lung field were 91.2% (674/739) and 89.0% (1 411/1 585), respectively. For different genders, the recall rates for male and female foreign body detection were 87.3% (337/386) and 90.0%(1 745/1 938), respectively. For different age ranges, the recall rate of foreign body detection was 92.5% (1 041/1 126) for 18-38 years old, 89.7%(505/563) for 39-58 years old, 83.5%(335/401) for 59-78 years old and 85.9% (201/234) for patients ≥79 years old.Conclusion:The constructed deep learning-based foreign body detection model for adult posterior-anterior chest X-ray provides high sensitivity and stability, which can identify foreign bodies in chest radiography quickly and accurately.

Objective:To investigate the application value and clinical effect of tissue expansion in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.Methods:From January 2013 to May 2019, 173 patients (38.2±8.0 years old) with body mass index (BMI) of (21.5±2.1) kg/m 2 were treated in Peking University Third Hospital. There were 76 cases on the right side and 97 cases on the left side; 8 cases underwent nipple sparing mastectomy, and 165 cases underwent modified radical mastectomy; 150 cases received chemotherapy and 9 cases received radiotherapy. In the first stage, immediate or delayed chest wall soft tissue expansion was performed. In the second stage, implant replacement, autologous tissue transplantation, or the combination of these two methods was performed to complete the breast reconstruction. All patients were followed up and the clinical effect was evaluated by Harris evaluation method. Results:Among 173 cases, 95 cases were provided immediate reconstruction, and 78 cases were applied delayed reconstruction. The period of tissue expansion was (7.7±3.2) months. During the second stage of reconstruction, implant exchange was conducted in 105 cases, 48 cases received implant exchange with autologous fat injection, 17 cases were performed implant exchange with endoscopy-assisted latissimus dorsi muscle transfer, and 3 cases were applied deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (DIEP) transplantation. The average follow-up time was 12.6 months (3.5-41.0 months). One patient had local tumor recurrence, and the implant was finally removed. The reconstruction effects were evaluated by Harris method, which showed that 23 cases had excellent appearance, 129 cases were good, 13 cases were fair, 7 cases were poor, and 88.4% (152/172) patients were good or above.Conclusions:Tissue expansion plays an important role as a transfer station in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. In the second stage, the breast reconstruction method can be flexibly selected. Tissue expansion has a wide range of indications, and is especially suitable for immediate post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Good result can be obtained by using this technique.

Objective:To investigate the application value and clinical effect of tissue expansion in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.Methods:From January 2013 to May 2019, 173 patients (38.2±8.0 years old) with body mass index (BMI) of (21.5±2.1) kg/m 2 were treated in Peking University Third Hospital. There were 76 cases on the right side and 97 cases on the left side; 8 cases underwent nipple sparing mastectomy, and 165 cases underwent modified radical mastectomy; 150 cases received chemotherapy and 9 cases received radiotherapy. In the first stage, immediate or delayed chest wall soft tissue expansion was performed. In the second stage, implant replacement, autologous tissue transplantation, or the combination of these two methods was performed to complete the breast reconstruction. All patients were followed up and the clinical effect was evaluated by Harris evaluation method. Results:Among 173 cases, 95 cases were provided immediate reconstruction, and 78 cases were applied delayed reconstruction. The period of tissue expansion was (7.7±3.2) months. During the second stage of reconstruction, implant exchange was conducted in 105 cases, 48 cases received implant exchange with autologous fat injection, 17 cases were performed implant exchange with endoscopy-assisted latissimus dorsi muscle transfer, and 3 cases were applied deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (DIEP) transplantation. The average follow-up time was 12.6 months (3.5-41.0 months). One patient had local tumor recurrence, and the implant was finally removed. The reconstruction effects were evaluated by Harris method, which showed that 23 cases had excellent appearance, 129 cases were good, 13 cases were fair, 7 cases were poor, and 88.4% (152/172) patients were good or above.Conclusions:Tissue expansion plays an important role as a transfer station in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. In the second stage, the breast reconstruction method can be flexibly selected. Tissue expansion has a wide range of indications, and is especially suitable for immediate post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Good result can be obtained by using this technique.

BACKGROUND:Gastric cancer mesenchyal stem cel s from clinical stomach cancer specimens and tumorigenic tissues in nude mice are similar to the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s in biological characteristics, which have been proved to be an important component of tumor microenvironment to promote tumor growth. It is speculated that biological characteristic of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s may change in stomach cancer microenvironment. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of stomach cancer microenvironment on morphology and proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s and expressions of CD34 and CD44. METHODS:Rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s were cultured alone as control group. In the test group, rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s were co-cultured with human stomach cancer BGC-823 cel s using Transwel chamber assay to establish the stomach cancer microenvironment. Then, cel morphology, proliferation, cel cycle and CD34, CD44 expressions were observed and detected using inverted phase contrast microscope, MTT assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the test group, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s were similar to human stomach cancer cel s BGC-823 that arranged disorderly and irregularly, were interconnected loosely, became thinner and longer, and grew in clusters with smal er nuclei. The cel proportion in G 1 phase significantly decreased, but that in S and G 2/M phases significantly increased (P<0.01, P<0.05). The positive rate of CD44 significantly declined, and the CD34 expression significantly raised (P<0.01). In conclusion, stomach cancer microenvironment by non-contact co-culture with BCG-823 cel s has an obvious effect on the morphology, proliferation and surface antigens expressions of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s that wil tend to be malignant gastric cancer cel s.

Objective To compare the accuracy and clinical effect between X-ray stereotactic vacuum-assisted biopsy (SVAB) and metal wire guided lumpectony.Methods From January 2010 to June 2014,681 cases of breast micro-calcification biopsy were performed.Among them,78 cases were performed with SVAB and 603 eases were performed with the method of stereotaetic metal wire guided lumpectomy.All cases were non-palpable breast lesions (NPBLs) and breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) assessment categories 4.The diagnostic accuracy and clinical effect were compared.Results The sensitivity of both methods was 100 ％ with no misdiagnosis.The underestimation rate of SVAB was 12.5 ％.Compared with the method of metal wire guided lumpectomy,SVAB had many advantages,such as easy to use,quickly performed,low rate of local deformation and lower rate of operative complications.77.5 ％ patients benefited from SVAB by avoiding open surgery of benign disease.Conclusions SVAB is an accurate,safe and convenient method of biopsy.It can be recommended as the preferred method of micro-calcification (BI-RADS 4).Additional operation should be performed on patients with the pathological diagnosis of middle and high grade of dysplasia and any kind of carcinoma.