Objective To explore the application value of lymphocyte subsets combined with various cytokines in the disease progression of elderly patients with corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19).Methods From December 2022 to January 2023,146 elderly patients with COVID-19 diagnosed in the emergency ward of the Eighth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital were selected and divided into two groups according to the prognosis:127 cases in the COVID-19 survival group,19 cases in the COVID-19 death group.In addition,51 osteoporosis patients in geriatric medicine department were collected as control group.The proportion and absolute count of lymphocyte subsets(including T,B and NK cells),and 12 cytokines in plasma(including IL-1β,IL-2,IL-4,IL-5,IL-6,IL-8,IL-10,IL-12p70,IL-17,TNF-α and IFN-γ)were compared between the control group and COVID-19 group,survival group and death group.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate its prognostic value in elderly patients with COVID-19 infection.Results Compared with the control group:① The proportion of NK cells in COVID-19 group was decreased,while the proportion of B cells was increased,and the differences were statistically significant(Z=-3.386,-4.140,all P<0.01).There was no significant difference in the proportion of T,CD8+T and CD4+T cells,and the differences were not statistically significant(Z=-1.244,-1.770,-0.951,all P>0.05).② The absolute numbers of T,CD8+T,CD4+T,NK and B cells in COVID-19 group were decreased,and the differences were statistically significant(Z=-9.418～-6.539,all P<0.01).③ The concentrations of IL-2,IL-6,IL-1β,IFN-γ,IL-8,IL-17,IL-12P70 and IL-10 in COVID-19 group were all increased,and the differences were statistically significant(Z=-8.851～-1.986,all P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the concentrations of IL-5,IFN-α,TNF-α and IL-4,and the differences were not statistically significant(Z=-0.460～-0.217,all P>0.05).Compared with the survival group:① There was no significant difference in the proportion of T,CD8+T,CD4+T,NK and B cells in the death group(Z=-1.873～-0.422,all P>0.05).② The absolute numbers of T,CD8+T and CD4+T cells in the death group were all decreased,and the differences were statistically significant(Z=-2.667,-2.287,-2.556,all P<0.05),while there was no significant difference in absolute numbers of NK and B cellsm and the differences were not statistically significant(Z=-1.934,-0.532,all P>0.05).③ The concentrations of IL-6,IFN-γ,IL-8,IL-17 and IL-10 in the death group were all increased,and the differences were not statistically significant(Z=-4.211～-2.655,all P<0.05),and there was no significant difference in the concentrations of IL-5,IFN-α,IL-2,IL-1β,IL-12p70,TNF-α and IL-4 the differences were not statistically significant(Z=-1.329～-0.279,all P>0.05).ROC curve analysis for the prognostic value of lymphocyte subsets combined with cytokines in elderly patients with COVID-19 showed that:the areas of total T cells,B cells and NK cells under ROC curve for predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 infection were 0.94,0.80 and 0.93,respectively.The areas of CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells under ROC curve for predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 infection were 0.93 and 0.90,respectively.The areas of IL-6,IFN-γ,IL-8,IL-17 and IL-10 in cytokines under the ROC curve for predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 infection were 0.91,0.71,0.87,0.74 and 0.90,respectively.However,the area of combined lymphocyte subsets and cytokines under ROC curve for predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 infection reached 0.99.Conclusion The immune status of elderly patients with COVID-19 was generally low.Evaluation of immune status has important clinical guidance significance in disease diagnosis,disease observation and prognosis.

At the time of the reform and adjustment of discipline transformation,the Institute of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,the 8th Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital,relies on Beijing Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation and Immunology Regulatory,to build a multidisciplinary postgraduate joint training mode based on immunology.From the aspects of indi-vidualized postgraduate training background,teaching mode,ability training,etc.,the practice mode of joint training of postgraduates in multiple clinical disciplines is explored.In order to cultivate medical thinking talents with systematic and holistic theory,and pre-pare for future clinical work.

Objective:To analyze the results of lymphocyte subsets and 12 plasma cytokines in patients with tuberculosis by flow cytometry and to evaluate their diagnostic efficacy in these patients.Methods:This is a retrospective case-control study. A total of 128 patients with evidence of tuberculosis disease or clinically confirmed tuberculosis who were admitted to the 8th Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from January 2022 to December 2023 were included. According to the location of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, the patients were divided into the pulmonary tuberculosis group (83 cases) and the extrapulmonary tuberculosis group (45 cases), and 100 healthy age-and sex matched people who underwent health check up during the study period were selected as the control group. Flow cytometry was used to detect peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and 12 plasma cytokines [including 10 pro-inflammatory factors: interleukin (IL)-5, interferon (IFN)-α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-17, IL-12P70, Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and two anti-inflammatory factors: IL-4, IL-10] in participants of all groups. Spearman correlation method was used to analyze the correlation between lymphocyte subsets and cytokines, binary Logistic regression was used to screen the TB related factors, and receiver operating curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of TB related factors.Results:Compared with the control group, the absolute number of CD3 +T lymphocytes, CD3 +CD8 +T lymphocytes, CD3 +CD4 +T lymphocytes, NK cells and B cells were lower in pulmonary tuberculosis group and extrapulmonary tuberculosis group (all P<0.05). Except for IL-1β, the levels of other 11 cytokines are all significantly higher in the pulmonary tuberculosis group (all P<0.01), and the levels of IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-17, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly higher in extrapulmonary tuberculosis group (all P<0.05). Compared with extrapulmonary tuberculosis group, the level of IL-8 was higher in pulmonary tuberculosis group ( P=0.026). Spearman correlation analysis showed that IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-8 were negatively correlated with the absolute numbers of CD3 +T lymphocytes, CD3 +CD8 +T lymphocytes, CD3 +CD4 +T lymphocytes, NK cells and B cells (IL-6: R2=-0.30, -0.28, -0.32, -0.26, -0.28; IFN-γ: R2=-0.36, -0.31, -0.37, -0.25, -0.36; IL-8: R2=-0.14, -0.13, -0.16, -0.14, -0.22; all P<0.05), IL-10 was negatively correlated with the absolute number of CD3 +CD4 +T lymphocytes, NK cells and B cells ( R 2=-0.14, -0.19, -0.21, all P<0.05); Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-8 and IL-10 were the related factors of tuberculosis ( OR=1.809, 1.136, 0.910, 2.218, all P<0.05), ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-8 and IL-10 in the joint diagnosis of tuberculosis was 0.845, the sensitivity was 0.766, and the specificity was 0.820. Conclusion:The lower absolute number of lymphocyte subsets and cytokine levels in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis indicate that their immune function is in a low state, and the higher levels of pro-inflammatory factors (IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-8) and anti-inflammatory factor (IL-10) indicates the higher inflammatory status, and evaluation of these 4 cytokines has satisfactory diagnostic efficacy for tuberculosis.

Objective:This work aims to explore the application value of cervical exfoliated cell DNA (Cysteine dioxygenase type 1, CDO1 and CUGBP Elav-like family member 4, CELF4) methylation in the detection of endometrial cancer in women of childbearing age. Methods:From November 2021 to October 2022, a prospective study was conducted on a total number of 517 reproductive-age women with abnormal uterine bleeding who had surgical indications for hysteroscopy at the Xiangya Third Hospital of Central South University. The cervical exfoliated cells were collected for cytology, HPV (human papillomavirus) and gene methylation detection before operation. Clinical information of patients, level of tumor-related biomarkers, and endometrial thickness of transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) were also collected. Single factor regression method was used to analyze the high-risk factors of endometrial cancer. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to obtain the area under the curve(AUC), focusing on the screening efficacy of gene methylation test for endometrial cancer in women of childbearing age.Results:The age, body mass index (BMI)≥25 kg/m 2, endometrial thickness≥11 mm, CDO1 m ΔCt≤8.4, CELF4 m ΔCt≤8.8, and double gene methylation were associated with endometrial cancer in women of childbearing age, 1.16(1.08-1.25), 4.33(1.89-10.31), 9.49(3.88-26.69), 69.62(25.70-224.36), 23.64(9.66-63.99), 87.39(24.83-555.05), all P<0.05. The AUC was 0.90 (95% CI 0.83-0.97) of CDO1 m/ CELF4 m in diagnosing endometrial carcinoma was higher than others factors, with sensitivity and specificity of 91.7% (95% CI 80.6%-100%) and 88.8% (95% CI 86.0%-91.6%). TVS combined with DNA methylation detection further improved the sensitivity to 95.8% (95% CI 87.8%-100%), but could not improve the specificity 68.0% (95% CI 63.8%-72.1%). Conclusions:For women of childbearing age with abnormal uterine bleeding or abnormal vaginal discharge, the accuracy of cervical cytology DNA methyl detection of endometrial cancer is better than other non-invasive clinical programs. DNA methylation combined with TVS can improve the sensitivity of detection.

As the overweight and obese population is growing， the incidence of obstructive sleep apnea is rising， and most of the cases are complicated with coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. The two diseases affect each other and seriously endanger the patients' health， becoming a major public health problem of global concern. It is of great clinical importance to explore the combination of Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Researchers have explored the relationship between the two based on traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） theory and found that the two diseases belong to the TCM disease categories of chest impediment and snoring， respectively， and their co-morbidity is associated with the abnormal physiological functions of the heart and lungs. The failure of the heart to govern blood leads to the generation of blood stasis， and that of the lung to govern Qi movement leads to the generation of phlegm. The accumulation of phlegm and blood stasis in the chest causes chest impediment and snoring due to obstruction of the airway. This paper discusses the internal linkage between the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in Chinese and Western medicine from the TCM theory of heart-lung correlation. Furthermore， this paper proposes the treatment principles of simultaneously treating the heart and lung and activating blood and resolving phlegm， aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with obstructive sleep apnea.

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer. Combination of systemic chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade is effective but of limited benefit due to insufficient intratumoral infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and the accumulation of immunosuppressive cells. Herein, we designed a lenvatinib- and vadimezan-loaded synthetic high-density lipoprotein (LV-sHDL) for combinational immunochemotherapy of metastatic TNBC. The LV-sHDL targeted scavenger receptor class B type 1-overexpressing 4T1 cells in the tumor after intravenous injection. The multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) lenvatinib induced immunogenic cell death of the cancer cells, and the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist vadimezan triggered local inflammation to facilitate dendritic cell maturation and antitumor macrophage differentiation, which synergistically improved the intratumoral infiltration of total and active CTLs by 33- and 13-fold, respectively. LV-sHDL inhibited the growth of orthotopic 4T1 tumors, reduced pulmonary metastasis, and prolonged the survival of animals. The efficacy could be further improved when LV-sHDL was used in combination with antibody against programmed cell death ligand 1. This study highlights the combination use of multitargeted TKI and STING agonist a promising treatment for metastatic TNBC.

Objective To investigate the dynamic changes of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and their correlation with renal function in recipients with stable graft status after renal transplantation. Methods Forty-five recipients who underwent renal transplantation for the first time and had stable graft function within postoperative 6 months were selected. The proportion and absolute value of lymphocyte subsets were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) in 180 peripheral blood samples from recipients at 15 d, 1, 3 and 6 months after renal transplantation. The dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets with the extension of postoperative time and their correlation with serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were analyzed. Results The Scr levels did not significantly differ at 4 time points after renal transplantation (all P > 0.05). The BUN levels significantly differed between 15 d and 1 month after renal transplantation, and between 1 and 3 months after renal transplantation (P=0.002, P=0.001). The proportion of CD3⁺CD8⁺T cells, CD3⁺CD4⁺T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and CD4/CD8 ratio at postoperative 15 d significantly differed from those at 1 month after operation (P=0.009, P=0.004, P < 0.001, P=0.004). The proportion of B cells significantly differed between 15 d and 1 month, and between 1 and 3 months after renal transplantation (both P < 0.001). The absolute values of CD3⁺T cells, CD3⁺CD8⁺T cells, CD3⁺CD4⁺T cells and NK cells at postoperative 15 d significantly differed from those at 1 month after renal transplantation (P=0.001, P=0.002, P=0.003, P < 0.001). The absolute values of CD3⁺CD8⁺T cells significantly differed between 3 and 6 months after operation (P=0.015). The absolute value of B cells at 1 month after renal transplantation significantly differed from that at 3 months after renal transplantation (P=0.001). The proportion and absolute value of lymphocyte subsets were not significantly correlated with the Scr level (both P > 0.05). The proportion and absolute value of CD3⁺CD8⁺T cells and NK cells were negatively correlated with BUN (P < 0.001-0.05), whereas the proportion of CD3⁺CD4⁺T cells and B cells was positively correlated with the BUN level (P < 0.001-0.05). The absolute value of CD3⁺T cells was negatively associated with the BUN level (P < 0.05). Conclusions T cells and NK cells in the lymphocyte subsets of stable recipients raise to the stable state within 1 month after renal transplantation, whereas B cells decrease to stable state within 3 months renal transplantation. The dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets are correlated with the BUN level.

Objective To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of endovascular balloon dilatation in removing incarcerated tunnel cuffed catheter (TCC) . Methods The clinical data and the imaging materials of 4 hemodialysis patients with incarcerated TCC, who received endovascular balloon dilatation at Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, China, during the period from January 2017 to March 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. After the treatment, the patient's vital signs were monitored, and the procedure-related complications such as hemopneumothorax, subcutaneous hematoma, arrhythmia, etc. were documented. Results The mean age of the 4 patients was (73.3±6.4) years. The average indwelling time of TCC was 5.5 years (4-8 years) . Successful treatment of incarcerated TCC was achieved in all 4 patients. In one patient, both 5-mm and 6-mm balloons were used to simultaneously dilate the dual cavities of TCC.Temporary arrhythmia occurred in one patient during operation. No serious postoperative complications occurred. Conclusion For the remove of long-term indwelling incarcerated TCC, endovascular balloon dilatation is minimally-invasive, safe and effective, although more researches are needed to further confirm its safety and reliability.

Objective: To investigate the effects and the potential mechanism of shikonin on rat random flaps. Methods: Seventy-two wistar male rats in grade SPF were randomly divided into negative control group, tetramethylpyrazine group (TMP group) or shikonin treatment group. The random skin flap sized 8 cm×2 cm, with a cephalic based pedicle, was performed on the back of the rat. Each group was administered accordingly by intraperitoneal injection once per day for 7 days: shikonin treatment group (1 mg/kg), TMP group (10 mg/kg) and control group (1 ml/kg). Morphological changes of skin flaps were observed by HE staining. The positive expression of iNOS and COX-2 in skin flap tissues after operation were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The serum contents of TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA. Results: Inflammatory cell infiltration and inflammatory reaction of flap was more severe in control group at different time points after operation. The number of inflammatory cells in shikonin treatment group and TMP group were significantly decreased, compared with controls (P<0.01). The decrease of the inflammatory cell numbers in shikonin treatment group was more significant. The proliferation of granulation tissue and fibroblast in skin flap was obvious, and the survival rates of the skin flap were significantly increased in shikonin treatment group and TMP group (both P<0.01). The numbers of iNOS or COX-2 positive cells in shikonin treatment group and TMP group were significantly decreased, when compared with controls (both P<0.01). Compared with TMP group, the numbers of iNOS and COX-2 positive cells in shikonin treatment group were significantly decreased (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively)in early period after operation. Compared with the control group, serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in shikonin treatment group and TMP group were significantly decreased (all P<0.01). The shikonin treatment group developed more significant reduce. Conclusions Shikonin can significantly improve inflammatory response of skin flap in rats, which might be related to inhibiting the expression of iNOS and COX-2, decreasing serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 , and reducing the release of inflammatory cytokines .

Objective To compare the long term effectiveness of tonsillotomy(TT)vs. tonsillectomy (TE)by hypercator in treatment of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS)in children. Methods 119 children with tonsil hypertrophy were diagnosed with OSAHS and included in the study. Among them,57 children underwent TT by hypercator and 62 TE only after preoperative laboratory polysomnography(PSG). All participants were interviewed 5 years after operation to assess the satisfaction of their caregivers,investigate the frequency of respiratory infections,the rate of tonsil regrowth and evaluate their quality of life by Obstructive Sleep Apnea-18(OSA-18). Results Some of them received postoperative PSG. All parents reported alleviation of breathing obstruction,but the postoperative satisfaction in TT group was higher than TE group mainly because of the shorter time return to normal diet. The rate of the respiratory tract infections was not increased in all cases after surgery. Four cases of children were observed with tonsillar regrowth,but no surgery was needed for further treatment. The rate of the dry throat symptoms in TT group was lower than TE group. Conclusions Tonsillotomy by hypercator can effectively eliminate the obstruction symptoms in children with OSAHS,superior to TE for its shorter recovery period and smaller oral mucosal injury and lower rate of tonsils regrowth and it is worth to clinical promotion.