OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic variants and phenotypic characteristics of patients with Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1). METHODS: Twenty two NF1 patients who presented at Enze Medical (Center) Group in Taizhou between 2018 and 2024 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical phenotype and family history were collected for the patients. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out for the 22 probands to screen the variants of NF1 gene. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing of their family members. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Hospital (Ethics No.: K20230902). RESULTS: The 22 probands were diagnosed between the age of 5 months to 47 years old, and have all shown cafe au lait spots on their skin. Seventeen patients exhibited the phenotype at birth, and 11 had various degrees of neurofibromatosis. Among them, probands 1 and 13 underwent surgical resection of the tumor but had recurred, while proband 12 had amputation due to the huge size and serious impact of the neurofibroma and had no recurrence. Five patients had various degrees of scoliosis. In total 22 germline mutations and one somatic mutation were identified among the 22 families, with 5 variants unreported previously, including 1 nonsense mutation c.1603C>T (Q535*), 3 frameshift mutations [c.7268_7269delCA (Thr2423fs), c.2293del (Arg765Alafs*26), and c.5433_5438delinsGC (Phe1812ArgfsTer50)], and 1 deletion involving exons 41-44 of the NF1 gene and adjacent introns. Proband 13 was found to harbor germline mutation c.6796C>T (Gln2266Ter) and somatic mutation c.1019_1020del (Ser340Cysfs Ter12) in the peripheral blood and tumor tissue, respectively. Among the 22 NF1 probands, 6 had received treatment due to severe illness. Proband 1 had tumor resection in the right upper limb, but was found to have malignant lung tumor and died during follow-up. Proband 12 had multiple recurrence of neurofibroma in the left ring finger. Proband 4 underwent spinal correction surgery due to severe scoliosis. Proband 11 had died due to a central nervous system disease. Among the 22 germline mutations, 6 had led to the occurrence of truncated proteins, which may have a more severe impact on the phenotype. CONCLUSION This study investigated the genetic variants and clinical phenotypes of 22 NF1 families and identified 5 novel variants of the NF1 gene, which has expanded the genotypic and phenotypic spectra of the NF1. Preliminary studies have identified an association between truncated mutations, young age, and severe phenotypes, which may provide important clues for prognosis evaluation. For the clinical diagnosis and treatment of NF1, it is necessary to consider the phenotypic characteristics and genetic testing in combination with genetic counseling and long-term follow-up.
Humans ; Neurofibromatosis 1/pathology* ; Male ; Female ; Pedigree ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Middle Aged ; Adolescent ; Infant ; Young Adult ; Neurofibromin 1/genetics* ; Phenotype ; Asian People/genetics* ; Mutation ; Exome Sequencing ; East Asian People

AIM:To assess the influence of preoperative lacrimal passage probing and dilation on the therapeutic effectiveness of nasolacrimal silicone intubation in cases of incomplete primary acquired nasolacrimal duct obstruction(PANDO).METHODS: A retrospective case-control clinical study was conducted. The study included patients with incomplete PANDO who underwent nasolacrimal silicone intubation at the hospital between October 2022 and October 2024. Participants were categorized into two groups based on their receipt of nasolacrimal duct probing and dilation prior to intubation. Group A consisted of patients who had undergone one or more sessions of nasolacrimal duct probing and dilation before nasolacrimal silicone intubation, while Group B included patients who did not receive nasolacrimal duct probing and dilation before intubation. All patients had their nasolacrimal silicone tubes removed 3 mo postoperatively and were monitored for 6 mo following tube removal to evaluate surgical success rates.RESULTS: A total of 136 patients(152 eyes)completed the six-month follow-up period. The overall surgical success rate for both groups was 72.4%(110/152 eyes).Group A included 22 males and 36 females, mean age 58.09±11.07 y, and achieved a success rate of 82.8%(53/64 eyes), while Group B included 27 males and 51 females, mean age 59.35±8.84 y and attained a success rate of 64.8%(57/88 eyes). The difference in surgical success rates between the two groups was statistically significant(P=0.014). Furthermore, Group A achieved a complete success rate of 67.2%(43/64 eyes), compared to 47.7%(42/88 eyes)in Group B, with this difference also reaching statistical significance(P=0.017). No serious postoperative complications were observed in either group.CONCLUSION: Nasolacrimal silicone intubation is a safe and effective intervention for incomplete PANDO, with preoperative nasolacrimal duct probing and dilation potentially enhancing therapeutic outcomes.

ObjectiveTo investigate the current awareness and optimization recommendations on pneumonia with unknown etiology (PUE) surveillance among Shanghai healthcare professionals, and to provide evidence for the improvement of the surveillance system. MethodsIn December 2024, healthcare professional participants from diverse medical and health institutions were randomly selected within each stratum using a stratified cluster sampling method in all 16 districts of Shanghai for questionnaire surveys on their knowledge and suggestions for optimization of the PUE surveillance system. Descriptive statistics analyses, multivariate logistic regressions, and content analyses were used for data analyses. ResultsA total of 385 survey subjects were involved in the study, including 119 professional staffs from disease prevention and control centers and 266 from medical institutions. Those who understood the case definition for PUE correctly accounted for 67.01% (258/385). Multivariate regression model analyses showed that female gender (aOR=2.22, 95%CI: 1.36‒3.66), professionals from disease control institutions (aOR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.12‒3.72), and those who self-assessed as being familiar with the monitoring system (aOR=2.18, 95%CI:1.23‒3.89) had better understanding of the definition. Overall, 89.61% (345/385) of the survey subjects acknowledged the necessity of the surveillance system. Small number of cases meeting the case definition (54.46%, 214/379), insufficient diagnostic awareness (39.84%, 151/379), and lack of incentives for case reporting (29.29%, 111/379) were major problems for the current surveillance system, with variations observed across different types of institutions. Suggested segments for optimizing the surveillance system included monitoring purpose, case definition, form of monitoring and reporting procedure, organization mechanism, and epidemiological investigation and response. ConclusionThe necessity of PUE surveillance is commonly recognized among healthcare workers. However, the existing system falls short in terms of mastery of case definition and overall surveillance adaptability. There is an urgent need for optimization and improvement to enhance the capacity for preventing and controlling emerging and sudden respiratory infectious diseases.

Objective To verify the efficacy of a domestic human DNA quantification kit based on real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR in detecting the total human DNA concentration,male DNA concen-tration in mixed male/female DNA samples,the degree of DNA degradation and inhibitor tolerance.Methods Samples with different concentrations,different male/female ratios,different concentrations of inhibitors,and different degradation degrees were tested using the domestic human DNA quantification kit based on real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.This kit was compared with a similar product on the market and was applied to the detection of DNA from real cases.Results This human DNA quan-tification kit can effectively detect human DNA as low as 0.001 65 ng/μL,and 6.25 pg/μL of male DNA in mixed samples with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶15 000.Even when the sample contains as high as 400 ng/μL of humic acid or 1 000 μmol/L of hemin alone,the DNA concentration can still be accurately detected.The degradation index can effectively characterize the degradation degree of the sample.This kit has been successfully applied in forensic practice.Conclusion This human DNA quan-tification kit is accurate and reliable in detection.It can accurately reflect the degradation of DNA and inhibitor tolerance.It has good performance in quantitative accuracy,determination of the male/female ratio in mixed samples,and inhibitor tolerance.It has application potential in forensic case examination.

Objective:To construct a multidisciplinary collaborative intelligent prevention and treatment system for orthopedic thrombophilia based on advanced intelligent analysis technology and to evaluate its application effectiveness in the management of orthopedic thrombophilia.Methods:Established a clinical multidisciplinary medical team guided by early warning management and human-computer interaction theory, and builded a multidisciplinary collaborative intelligent prevention and treatment system for orthopedic thrombophilia based on intelligent analysis technology.Adopting a prospective pre-and post control study method, 674 orthopedic inpatients at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from February 2021 to October 2022 were selected as study participants by convenient sampling method and divided into a control group (308 cases) and an observation group (366 cases) according to their admission periods. The control group underwent conventional management methods for thrombophilia. In contrast, the observation group utilized a multidisciplinary collaborative intelligent prevention and treatment system for orthopedic thrombophilia for intelligent management methods. The two groups were compared regarding risk assessment rates, assessment accuracy, assessment efficiency, dynamic assessment completion rate, knowledge awareness rates, implementation rates of multidisciplinary collaborative preventive measures, and thrombophilia incidence rates.Results:The multidisciplinary collaborative intelligent prevention and treatment system for orthopedic thrombophilia mainly included four personnel ports (doctor end, nurse end, patient or caregiver end, medical quality control end) and eight modules (patient intelligent scoring, risk grading warning, dynamic evaluation of prevention contraindications, prevention measure decision-making, health education, inpatient data monitoring, department indicator statistics, medical management). Both groups of patients completed the study. There were 238 males and 70 females in the control group, aged (42.83 ± 8.69) years old. There were 278 males and 88 females in the observation group, aged (42.35 ± 8.13) years old. The risk assessment rate, assessment accuracy rate, and dynamic assessment completion rate of the observation group for thrombophilia were 100.00% (366/366), 98.90% (362/366), and 100.00% (366/366), respectively, all higher than the control group's 94.15% (290/308), 90.58% (279/308), and 91.55% (282/308), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=21.99, 24.88, 32.16, all P<0.01). The knowledge awareness rate of preventing thrombophilia among high-risk patients in the observation group was 95.90% (211/220), the implementation rates of basic prevention, physical prevention, drug prevention, and combined prevention in the multidisciplinary collaborative prevention measures were 87.37% (173/198), 97.72% (215/220), 39.09% (86/220), 46.37% (102/220), and 27.73% (61/220), respectively, all higher than the control group's 85.86% (170/198), 24.74% (49/198), 30.81% (61/198), and 12.12% (24/198), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2 values were 9.81-20.19, all P<0.05). The risk assessment time for the observation group was (3.95 ± 1.03) minutes, and the incidence of thrombophilia was 1.91% (7/366), both lower than the control group's (9.56 ± 1.65) minutes and 7.47% (23/308), with statistically significant differences ( t=53.78, χ2=6.33, both P<0.05). Conclusions:The application of the multidisciplinary collaborative intelligent prevention and treatment system for orthopedic thrombophilia has improved the implementation rate of prevention and treatment interventions by medical staff, increased job satisfaction, and also enhanced the awareness rate of prevention knowledge among patients, thereby improving the management status of thrombophilia in orthopedic inpatients.

Objective To explore the role of miR-204-3p in silicosis and to elucidate the mechanism by which it affects silicosis fibers by regulating silica dust-induced alveolar epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)in rats.Methods Forty SD rats were divided randomly into 4 groups:Control,Silicosis,AAV-Control,and AAV-miR-204-3p groups.The pathology of lung tissue damage was detected by hematoxylin and eosin(HE)and Masson staining.Relative expression levels of miR-204-3p and EMT marker genes in lung tissues from rats in each group were analyzed by real-time fluorescence reverse transcription quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR),and protein expression levels of EMT-related markers in lung tissues were detected by Western blot.Results The alveolar structure was damaged,the lung septa showed interstitial fibrosis,and expression levels of mesenchymal markers were elevated in the Silicosis group compared with the Control group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.001).The alveolar structure was more complete,the EMT process was alleviated,fibrosis was improved,and mesenchymal marker expression was reduced in the AAV-miR-204-3p group compared with the AAV-Control group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.001).Conclusions Free silica dust induces EMT in rat lung tissue.Overexpression of miR-204-3p can attenuate the EMT process induced by free silica dust in rats,and may thus affect silicosis fibrosis.

Infiltration of a large number of inflammatory cells in the synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis(RA)promotes vascu-lar neovascularisation and the formation of aggressive pannus,which ultimately lead to bone erosion and cartilage destruction,causing irreversible damage to the joints.Numerous studies have demonstrated the role of proangiogenic factors such as growth factors,adhesion factors,angiopoietin 2,matrix metalloproteinas-es,and macrophage migration inhibitory factors in stimulating vascular opacification formation during RA progression.In re-cent years,a variety of traditional Chinese medicines have dem-onstrated inhibitory effects on the formation of pannus.In this paper,we elucidate the mechanism of pro-angiogenic factors in RA and review the latest research results on traditional Chinese medicines that inhibit the formation of pannus through the above mechanisms,so as to provide more research ideas for the treat-ment of RA.

Cilia,as cellular sensory organelles,actively partici-pate in and regulate cellular processes such as autophagy and metabolic breakdown during their generation and transportation.Autophagy,on the other hand,is a cell self-protection mecha-nism that maintains cellular homeostasis by clearing aggregates and damaged organelles.Combining recent research findings,this review comprehensively elucidates the bidirectional crosstalk between primary cilia and autophagy.Specifically,it highlights the crucial role of cilia-dependent signaling pathways in activa-ting cellular autophagy and how autophagy regulates cilia genera-tion and length by degrading specific ciliary proteins.Moreover,the dysregulation of primary cilia and autophagy is closely asso-ciated with the clinical manifestations and pathogenesis of vari-ous ciliopathy-related diseases such as polycystic kidney disease and tuberous sclerosis.In terms of pharmacotherapy,this review provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of small mole-cule inhibitors targeting ciliogenesis,including cytoskeletal drugs and Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitors.Despite the current limitations in clinical use,these drugs lay the groundw-ork for developing highly specific targeted small molecule inhibi-tors of ciliogenesis and for the treatment of ciliopathies and canc-ers.By systematically discussing ciliogenesis,autophagy,disea-ses and drugs,this review offers new insights for further elucida-ting the crosstalk between ciliogenesis and autophagy,exploring their pathological mechanisms in disease development,and de-veloping therapeutic strategies in the future.

Objective To study the objective changes and effects of speech characteristics in patients with nasal endoscopic surgery,and to analyze the relationship between surgery and changes in vocal tract structure.Methods A prospective study was conducted on 45 patients who underwent nasal endoscopic surgery from June 2023 to December 2023.Among them,13 patients underwent nasal septum deviation correction surgery and/or nasal polypectomy and/or turbinate shaping surgery group(G1 group),11 patients underwent simple sinus opening surgery group(G2 group),and 21 patients underwent nasal sinus opening+nasal septum deviation correction surgery and/or nasal polypectomy and/or nasal turbinate shaping surgery group(G3 group).Spectrogram detection was completed before and 1 month after surgery.Nasal resistance(Refft value),acoustic indicators resonance peak frequency(F1-F4),bandwidth(B1-B4),difference between F1 amplitude and nasal murmur resonance peak amplitude(A1-P0),and difference between F1 and nasal murmur resonance peak amplitude(A1-P1)under different sound tasks(oral vowels,nasal vowels,and phrases and short sentences containing nasal vowels)were analyzed.Results After surgery,there was no significant change in the acoustic indicators in any of the groups,and the Refft value significantly decreased.The change in the resonance peak of oral vowels was not significant,but the bandwidth significantly decreased.A1-P1 in each group showed an upward trend after surgery,while A1-P0 showed a downward trend after surgery.Among them,A1-P1 in G1 group showed a significant increase compared to preoperative levels in/ma/,/na/,/mi/,and/ni/,and A1-P0 showed a significant decrease in/ma/and/na/compared to preoperative levels.There were statisti-cally significant differences in A1-P0 between G2 group and preoperative group in both/ma/and/na/.The A1-P1 levels in G3 group showed significant differences compared to preoperative levels in/mi/and/ni/,and A1-P0 showed significant differences compared to preoperative levels in/ma/and/na/.Conclusion Nasal endoscopic surgery may have a measurable impact on the patient's speech.The spectrogram can be used to evaluate the postoperative pronuncia-tion characteristics of nasal endoscopy,with A1-P1 being a better measurement indicator for high vowels/i/and A1-P0 being a better measurement indicator for non high vowels/a/.

This consensus was developed by the Orthodontic Society of the Chinese Stomatological Association to provide a systematic, scientific, and practical guideline for informed consent in orthodontic care. Orthodontic treatment is typically lengthy, highly individualized, and involves multiple factors such as growth and development, occlusal function, and facial esthetics. Rapid technological advances and diverse risk profiles make the traditional reliance on orthodontist experience or institutional templates insufficient to ensure patients′ full understanding and autonomous decision-making. To address this, the expert panel conducted extensive reviews of domestic and international guidelines, analyzed representative dispute cases, and performed multicenter patient-clinician surveys. Using a multi-round Delphi method, the group established a standardized informed consent framework covering the initial consultation, treatment, and retention phases. The consensus emphasizes that informed consent is not only a fundamental legal and ethical requirement but also a key step in building trust, improving patient compliance, and enhancing treatment satisfaction. Orthodontists should clearly and comprehensively explain treatment plans, potential risks, uncertainties, and associated costs, while respecting the autonomy of patients or guardians, and maintain continuous communication and dynamic evaluation throughout the treatment process. The release of this consensus provides unified and authoritative guidance for clinical orthodontics, helping to standardize informed consent, enhance its transparency, safeguard patient rights, reduce medical risks, and promote high-quality, sustainable development of orthodontic practice.