OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of quercetin （QUE） on intervertebral disc degeneration in rats with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation （LDH） and explore its mechanism based on the forkhead box protein O3/silent information regulator 1 （FOXO3/Sirt1） pathway. METHODS A rat model of LDH was established. The successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into LDH group （gavaged with and intraperitoneally injected with an equal volume of normal saline）， QUE-L group （gavaged with 50 mg/kg QUE+intraperitoneally injected with an equal volume of normal saline）， QUE-H group （gavaged with 100 mg/kg QUE+ intraperitoneally injected with an equal volume of normal saline）， and QUE-H+EX-527 （a Sirt1 inhibitor） group （gavaged with 100 mg/kg QUE+intraperitoneally injected with 1 mg/kg EX-527）， with 12 rats in each group. Additionally， 12 healthy normal rats were selected as the control group （gavaged with and intraperitoneally injected with an equal volume of normal saline）. All rats were administered the corresponding agents once daily for consecutive 8 weeks. After the final administration， the pain threshold and serum levels of inflammatory factors in rats were measured； pathological damage of lumbar intervertebral disc tissue was observed， the apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells in lumbar intervertebral disc tissue was assessed， and the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-3 （MMP-3）， phospholipase A2 （PLA2）， as well as apoptosis-related proteins and FOXO3/Sirt1 pathway- related proteins in intervertebral disc tissue were determined. RESULTS Compared with LDH group， pathological damage of intervertebral disc tissue were improved significantly in QUE-L group and QUE-H group； paw withdrawal mechanical threshold， paw withdrawal thermal latency， the serum levels of transforming growth factor-β1 and interleukin-10 （IL-10） as well as the expression levels of B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， FOXO3 and Sirt1 were significantly increased or prolonged （P＜0.05）. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-1β， histopathological score of intervertebral disc tissue， apoptotic rate of nucleus pulposus cells， positive expressions of MMP-3 and PLA2 in intervertebral disc tissue and expression levels of Bcl-2 associated X protein were significantly decreased （P＜0.05）. Compared with the QUE-H group， the QUE-H+EX-527 group presented aggravated pathological damage of intervertebral disc tissue， and the trends of all the above indicators were significantly reversed（P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS QUE can ameliorate intervertebral disc degeneration in LDH rats， and its mechanism may be related to the activation of the FOXO3/Sirt1 pathway.

Objective To explore the predictive value of artificial intelligence (AI)-based lung nodule CT quantitative analysis for the invasion degree of lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions. Methods According to the invasion degree of lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions, patients with surgically and pathologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions from January to June 2023 in Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University were retrospectively collected and divided into a non-invasive group and an invasive group, including atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma in situ, and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma patients in the non-invasive group, and invasive adenocarcinoma patients in the invasive group. All enrolled patients underwent chest CT before surgery, and then the lung nodules were quantitatively analyzed using an AI-based computer-aided diagnosis system to compare the related quantitative parameters of lung nodules that have been surgically removed and pathologically confirmed as lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions between the two groups. The relationship between various CT quantitative features and the invasion degree of lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions was analyzed. Results A total of 149 patients (149 lesions) were included, including 42 males and 107 females, aged 29-81 (56.35±10.75) years. There were 72 patients in the non-invasive group and 77 patients in the invasive group. Statistical differences were observed between the two groups in long diameter, short diameter, volume, surface area, mass, maximum cross-sectional area, 3D long diameter, maximum CT value, minimum CT value, average CT value, entropy, kurtosis, skewness, malignancy probability and other indicators (P<0.05). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that long diameter [OR=1.687, 95%CI (1.364, 2.085), P<0.001], average CT value [OR=1.006, 95%CI (1.002, 1.009), P=0.002], and malignancy probability [OR=1.034, 95%CI (1.005, 1.063), P=0.020] were independent risk factors for the invasion degree of lung adenocarcinoma. The predictive model combining the above parameters demonstrated optimal performance, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.951, sensitivity of 0.818, and specificity of 0.972. Using a Nomogram to quantify the three independent risk factors, the cross-validation was performed to evaluate the stability of the model, and the average C-index of cross-validation was 0.950, with each fold C-index >0.75, indicating that the prediction performance of the model was stable, and the calibration curve and decision curve indicated good predictive performance. Conclusion The visualization prediction model constructed by AI-based quantitative analysis of lung nodules in CT demonstrates significant discriminative effectiveness in the assessment of invasiveness in lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions. This visualization prediction model can provide a quantitative decision-making basis for the preoperative identification of the degree of invasiveness in lung adenocarcinoma spectrum lesions.

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the effects of lumbar lordosis on spinal sagittal balance after Roussouly type Ⅱ spinal lumbar fusion.Methods In the experiment,96 patients undergoing Roussouly type Ⅱ spinal lumbar fusion in Laohekou First Hospital were enrolled as the research objects between January 2022 and December 2023.According to random number table method,they were divided into control group(intraoperative maintaining of the original lumbar lordosis,n=48)and study group(intraoperative increasing of lumbar lordosis by 5°,n=48).The clinical symptoms[numerical rating scale(NRS),Oswestry disability index(ODI)],spinal and pelvic sagittal parameters[pelvic incidence(PI),sacral slope(SS),pelvic tilt(PT),lumbar lordosis(LL),thoracic kyphosis(TK)],rehabilitation status[Japanese Orthopaedic Association(JOA),Berg balance scale(BBS)]and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups.Results The experiment results showed that at 6 months after surgery,scores of NRS and ODI were decreased in both groups,which were lower in study group than control group(P＜0.05).At 6 months after surgery,PI,SS,PT and LL in study group were(48.48±1.62)°,(35.42±5.39)°,(16.75±1.84)°and(39.36±3.72)°,higher than those in control group[(47.51±2.32)°,(28.83±4.46)°,(13.95±1.77)°,(30.78±3.64),P＜0.05],while TK was lower than that in control group[(11.72±1.08)°vs.(14.26±1.23)°,P＜0.05].At 6 months after surgery,scores of JOA and BBS were increased in both groups,which were higher in study group than control group(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in incidence of postoperative complications between study group and control group(12.50％vs.14.58％,P＞0.05).Conclusion It can be concluded that appropriate increase of lumbar lordosis can significantly improve spinal sagittal balance,promote the remission of clinical symptoms and rehabilitation process in patients after Roussouly type Ⅱ spinal lumbar fusion.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status of cleaning and disinfection of digestive endoscopes in vari-ous grades of hospitals of Hubei Province so as to improve the quality of cleaning and disinfection of the digestive endoscopes.METHODS A survey was conducted by the hospital infection management department of Tongji Hos-pital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology from Mar.25,2024 to Mar.29,2024.A questionnaire was formulated by brainstorming and literature review.The electronic question-naire was distributed through the"Wenjuanxing"platform.The questionnaire survey aimed to investigate the per-sonnel,training,equipment and facilities,cleaning and disinfection operations,monitoring and recording of the digestive endoscopy centers of the medical institutions in the province.RESULTS Totally 185 medical institutions were finally included,113 of which were tertiary hospitals,and 72 were secondary and lower-grade hospitals.The tertiary hospitals were superior to the secondary and lower-grade hospitals in the quantity of endoscopes,daily di-agnosis and treatment volume of patients,participation in external training(including continuous training,further education,hospital-level training),provision of some facilities and equipment(ultrasonic cleaners,full pipeline perfusion devices,cleaning brushes,high-pressure water guns,transport containers),some cleaning and disinfec-tion operations(changing the cleaning enzyme solution one time for one endoscope,disinfecting the cleaning brush one time after one-time use),implementation of surveillance of cleaning quality and preservation of surveil-lance records(P＜0.05).However,the tertiary hospital were inferior to the secondary and lower-grade hospitals in standardized use of transferring containers(65.49％)and drying time of air guns(57.52％)(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The quality of cleaning and disinfection of the digestive endoscopes remains large room to be im-proved in the medical institutions of Hubei Province.It is necessary for the medical institutions to strengthen the supervision and training of personnel based on the their actual condition,complete the provision of facilities and e-quipment,standardize the cleaning and disinfection operations,and complete the surveillance and recordings.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated by anorexia.Methods:This cross-sectional study included patients registered in the RealDTC study from May 2023 to December 2023. Demographic data, COPD Assessment Test (CAT) score, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea questionnaire score, Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) score, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1), forced expiratory volume in the first second predicted of percentage (FEV 1%pred), FEV 1/forced vital capacity (FVC), Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grade, GOLD group, number of acute exacerbations and hospitalizations in the past year, and score of the Functional Assessment of Anorexia Cachexia Therapy-Anorexia/Cachexia Subscale-12 (FAACT-A/CS-12) were collected. Patients with a FAACT-A/CS-12 score ≤30 were diagnosed as having anorexia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of anorexia in COPD patients. Results:A total of 617 COPD patients were included, of whom 109(17.7%) had anorexia. Compared with non-anorexia patients, COPD patients with anorexia had higher age, CAT, mMRC and CCQ scores, and more acute exacerbations and hospitalizations in the past year, while body mass index, FEV 1, FEV 1%pred and FEV 1/FVC were lower (all P<0.05). The proportions of patients with primary education or below, GOLD 3-4 grade and GOLD E group were higher in COPD patients with anorexia (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that a CAT score of 10-<20 [odds ratio ( OR)=4.017, 95% confidence interval ( CI): 1.673-59.645], a CAT score of 20-<30 ( OR=9.686, 95% CI: 3.777-24.842), a CAT score of ≥30 ( OR=78.286, 95% CI: 7.654-800.689) and ≥1 hospitalization in the past year ( OR=2.050, 95% CI: 1.292-3.254) were independent risk factors for anorexia in COPD patients (all P<0.05). Conclusions:COPD patients with anorexia have poor lung function, high symptom burden and high risk of acute exacerbation. Clinicians should pay attention to the management of COPD patients with anorexia and take corresponding intervention measures.

Calcitonin gene-related peptides(CGRP)are peptides that are ubiquitous in the central and peripheral nervous systems,which has been shown to be associated with pain,setting off a boom in the development of chemical small molecule antagonists targeting CGRP receptors,but most of them have failed due to greater hepatotoxicity.Anti-CGRP/CGRPR antibodies have attracted widespread attention due to their high specificity and safety,especially lower hepatotoxicity.This article reviews the structure and function of CGRP and its receptors,as well as the research progress of anti-CGRP-related neutralizing antibodies in order to provide a reference for the exploration of disease mechanisms and drug development related to CGRP.

It was a retrospective study. The propensity score matching was applied to divide the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients who have underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) into two groups: short-term (<4 weeks) sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) group (213 patients) and control group (213 patients). The occurrence of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) after PCI was compared between the two groups. The results showed that the incidence of CIAKI in the SGLT2i group was not significantly different from the control group [10.8% (23/213) vs. 7.5% (16/213), χ2=1.383, P=0.313]. The incidence of CIAKI in patients with SGLT2i application time <1 week was higher than that in control patients, but the difference was not statistically significant [13.00% (16/123) vs. 7.5% (16/213), χ2=2.734, P=0.122]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that short-term (<4 weeks) use of SGLT2i would not increase the risk of CIAKI after PCI in T2DM patients ( OR=0.507, 95% CI 0.238-1.077, P=0.077). Short-term application of SGLT2i before PCI may not increase the risk of CIAKI, but it is advisable to avoid initiating the application of SGLT2i before PCI as much as possible.

Stem cell treatment may enhance erectile dysfunction (ED) in individuals with cavernous nerve injury (CNI). Nevertheless, no investigations have directly ascertained the implications of varying amounts of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) on ED. We compare the efficacy of three various doses of HUC-MSCs as a therapeutic strategy for ED. Sprague-Dawley rats (total = 175) were randomly allocated into five groups. A total of 35 rats underwent sham surgery and 140 rats endured bilateral CNI and were treated with vehicles or doses of HUC-MSCs (1 × 10 6 cells, 5 × 10 6 cells, and 1 × 10 7 cells in 0.1 ml, respectively). Penile tissues were harvested for histological analysis on 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 28 days, 60 days, and 90 days postsurgery. It was found that varying dosages of HUC-MSCs enhanced the erectile function of rats with bilateral CNI and ED. Moreover, there was no significant disparity in the effectiveness of various dosages of HUC-MSCs. However, the expression of endothelial markers (rat endothelial cell antigen-1 [RECA-1] and endothelial nitric oxide synthase [eNOS]), smooth muscle markers (alpha smooth muscle actin [α-SMA] and desmin), and neural markers (neurofilament [RECA-1] and neurogenic nitric oxide synthase [nNOS]) increased significantly with prolonged treatment time. Masson's staining demonstrated an increased in the smooth muscle cell (SMC)/collagen ratio. Significant changes were detected in the microstructures of various types of cells. In vivo imaging system (IVIS) analysis showed that at the 1 st day, the HUC-MSCs implanted moved to the site of damage. Additionally, the oxidative stress levels were dramatically reduced in the penises of rats administered with HUC-MSCs.
Male ; Animals ; Erectile Dysfunction/metabolism* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Rats ; Penis/pathology* ; Humans ; Disease Models, Animal ; Umbilical Cord/cytology* ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/complications* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III/metabolism* ; Actins/metabolism* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I/metabolism*

This study explores whether the current external quality assessment (EQA) level and acceptable bias for basic semen analysis in China are clinically useful. We collected data of semen EQA from Andrology laboratories in the Hunan Province (China) in 2022 and searched for data in the published literature from January 2000 to December 2023 in China. On the basis of these data, we analyzed the coefficients of variation and acceptable biases of different quality control materials for basic semen analysis through robust statistics. We compared these findings with quality specifications based on biological variation from optimal, desirable, and minimum levels of bias to seek a unified and more suitable semen EQA bias evaluation standard for China's national conditions. Different sources of semen quality control material exhibited considerable variation in acceptable biases among laboratories, ranging from 8.2% to 56.9%. A total of 50.0% of the laboratories met the minimum quality specifications for progressive motility (PR), whereas 100.0% and 75.0% of laboratories met only the minimum quality specifications for sperm concentration and total motility (nonprogressive [NP] + PR), respectively. The Z value for sperm concentration and PR+NP was equivalent to the desirable performance specification, whereas the Z value for PR was equivalent only to the minimum performance specification. This study highlights the feasibility of operating external quality assessment schemes for basic semen analysis using quality specifications based on biological variation. These specifications should be unified among external quality control (EQC) centers based on biological variation.
Semen Analysis/standards* ; Humans ; China ; Male ; Quality Control ; Sperm Motility ; Sperm Count/standards*

Objective:To develop and externally validate a nomogram prediction model for assessing the risk of treatment dropout in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients undergoing sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT).Methods:Between February 2016 and December 2019, data from 358 and 259 AR patients undergoing SLIT were collected from Guizhou Provincial People′s Hospital and Huangshi Central Hospital, respectively. The data included general patient information, dust mite sIgE levels, allergen types, and 22 other clinical variables. Data from Guizhou Provincial People′s Hospital were used as the training set, while data from Huangshi Central Hospital were served as the external validation set. A multivariable Cox regression model was used to identify independent factors associated with SLIT dropout and to develop a nomogram prediction model.Results:Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified several significant factors influencing SLIT dropout, including dust mite sIgE levels (Grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ; HR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.16-1.88), presence of other allergic diseases ( HR=0.47, 95% CI: 0.37-0.61), Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) score ( HR=0.98, 95% CI: 0.97-1.00), WeChat management ( HR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.60-0.98), treatment efficacy ( HR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.56-0.92), age (5-17 years, HR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.36-0.71;≥60 years, HR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.08-1.87), household income (<5 000 CNY, HR=1.44, 95% CI: 1.09-1.90;>20 000 CNY, HR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.44-0.99), allergen types (single dust mite, HR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.49-0.93; and combined pollen or mold, HR=1.45, 95% CI: 1.02-2.04), and time to efficacy <3 months ( HR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.56-0.94), all P<0.05. At the third-year follow-up, the area under curve (AUC) for the nomogram model was 0.913 (95% CI: 0.881-0.943) in the training group and 0.886 (95% CI: 0.838-0.933) in the validation group. Calibration and decision curve analyses demonstrated the model′s consistency with actual dropout rates and clinical benefit in both groups. Additionally, a Brier score of 0.29 further confirmed the model′s predictive accuracy. Conclusion:We successfully develop a nomogram-based prediction model for SLIT dropout in AR patients, which could assist healthcare professionals in effectively identifying high-risk patients and facilitate the development of more personalized and timely treatment plans aimed at enhancing patient compliance.