BACKGROUND: The profile and clinical significance of the oral microbiome in patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (noHCM) and obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) remain unexplored. The objective of this study was to evaluate the difference of oral microbiome between noHCM and oHCM patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 18 noHCM patients and 26 oHCM patients from Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between 2020 and 2021. Clinical and periodontal evaluations were conducted, and subgingival plaque samples were collected. Metagenomic sequencing and subsequent microbial composition and functional analyses were performed. RESULTS: Compared to oHCM patients, those with noHCM had higher systolic blood pressure (138.1 ± 18.8 mmHg vs . 124.2 ± 13.8 mmHg, P = 0.007), a larger body circumference (neck circumference: 39.2 ± 4.0 cm vs . 35.1 ± 3.7 cm, P = 0.001; waist circumference: 99.7 ± 10.5 cm vs . 92.2 ± 10.8 cm, P = 0.027; hip circumference: 102.5 ± 5.6 cm vs . 97.5 ± 9.1 cm, P = 0.030), a greater left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (46.6 ± 4.9 mm vs . 43.1 ± 4.9 mm, P = 0.026), and a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (64.1 ± 5.7 % vs . 68.5 ± 7.8%, P = 0.048). While overall biodiversity and general microbial composition were similar between the noHCM and oHCM groups, ten taxa displayed significant differences at the genus and species levels, with Porphyromonas gingivalis showing the highest abundance and greater enrichment in noHCM (relative abundance: 7.79535 vs . 4.87697, P = 0.043). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis identified ten distinct pathways, with pathways related to energy and amino acid metabolism being enriched in oHCM patients, and those associated with genetic information processing less abundant in the oHCM group. Metabolic potential analysis revealed ten significantly altered metabolites primarily associated with amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, porphyrin metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversion, and lysine degradation. CONCLUSIONS The higher abundance of Porphyromonas gingivalis , which is known to impact cardiovascular health, in noHCM patients may partially account for clinical differences between the groups. Pathway enrichment and metabolic potential analyses suggest microbial functional shifts between noHCM and oHCM patients, potentially reflecting inherent metabolic changes in HCM.
Humans ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/microbiology* ; Female ; Male ; Microbiota/genetics* ; Middle Aged ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Adult ; Mouth/microbiology* ; Aged

Postoperative infection of internal fixation of closed fractures the lower limbs in adults represents a devastating complication, characterized by diagnostic challenges, prolonged treatment duration and high disability rates. Current management of these infections faces multiple challenges, such as difficulties in early accurate diagnosis, and various controversies about the treatment plan, leading to poor overall diagnosis and treatment results. To address these issues, based on evidence-based medicine and principles with emphasis on scientific rigor, clinical applicability and innovation, the Trauma Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Orthopedic Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Orthopedics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and Trauma Orthopedics and Polytrauma Group of the Resuscitation and Emergency Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association have collaboratively organized a panel of relevant experts to develop the Guideline for diagnosis and treatment of infection after internal fixation of closed lower limb fractures in adults ( version 2025). The guideline proposed 10 recommendations, aiming to provide a foundation for standardized diagnosis and treatment of postoperative infection in adults with closed lower limb fractures.

Objective:To explore the effect of preoperative intensive functional training on the balance and functional recovery of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) receiving total knee arthroplasty (TKA).Methods:Sixty KOA patients were randomly divided into an outpatient group, a home-based group and a control group, each of 20. Before their TKAs, both the outpatient and home-based groups underwent intensive functional training for 4 weeks, while the control group did nothing special. After the TKA, all received 4 weeks of standardized postoperative rehabilitation training. Before any training, after the 4 weeks of preoperative training and 4 weeks after the TKAs, all of the subjects performed the timed up and go test (TUGT), and their joint range of motion (ROM) was recorded. They also completed the 30-second chair stand strength test (30sCST), and the 6-minute walk exercise endurance test (6MWT). KOA osteoarthritis indices (WOMACs) were also recorded.Results:After the 4 weeks of preoperative training, significant differences were observed in the trajectory length, elliptical area and TUGT times of both the outpatient and home-based groups. Four weeks after the TKAs, significant differences were observed in all of the measurements in all three groups, but the results of the outpatient and home-based groups were significantly better than those of the control group, on average. After the 4 weeks of postoperative training, there were significant differences between the outpatient and home-based groups in terms of the average knee flexion angle, knee extension angle, 30sCST and 6MWT results. There were significant differences among the 3 groups in all of the measurements 4 weeks after the TKAs, with those of the two training groups showing significantly better results than the control group. The pain scores, stiffness scores, function scores and total WOMAC scores had improved significantly compared with the control group, but the average function and total WOMAC scores of the outpatient group (24.25±2.38) and (35.41±3.02) were then significantly superior to the home-based group′s averages.Conclusions:Intensive preoperative functional training conducted in an outpatient clinic or at home can significantly improve the balance, lower limb strength, exercise endurance and symptoms of KOA patients after TKA.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for treating functional constipation, analyze the incidence of, and factors that influence, adverse events, and provide scientific evidence for optimizing FMT treatment.Methods:This retrospective, multicenter, single-arm, pre–post real-world study included 1529 patients with functional constipation from four clinical centers. Eligibility criteria comprised meeting the diagnostic criteria for functional constipation, having undergone at least one FMT treatment, complete pre- and post-treatment data available, and age ≥18 years. Patients who had received other interventions affecting gut function within 1 month before treatment and those with severe organic diseases or immune deficiencies were excluded. Applying the above criteria yielded 1529 eligible patients with functional constipation from four medical centers (1405 from the Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, 20 from the Central Hospital of Wuhan, 67 from the Shanxi Bethune Hospital and 37 from the Longgang District People's Hospital of Shenzhen). The study cohort comprised 746 male (48.8%) and 783 female patients (51.2%) of mean age (51.4 ± 17.4) years, mean body mass index (26.4 ± 4.9) kg/m2, and mean duration of disease (15.0 ± 8.3) years. The primary outcomes were the incidence, types, and severity of adverse reactions during treatment, and their impact on patients' quality of life. Secondary outcomes included: (1) the efficacy of FMT in treating constipation. This was assessed based on changes in Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms (PAC-SYM) scores, where higher score indicates worse symptom. (2) Subjective satisfaction, evaluated through questionnaires or rating scales, reflecting patients' acceptance of and satisfaction with the treatment, with scores ranging from 1 to 5, where higher scores indicated greater satisfaction. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to evaluate changes in symptom scores and biochemical indicators before and after treatment. Logistic regression was performed to analyze factors influencing adverse events, and subgroup analyses to explored differences in efficacy between patient groups.Results:In this cohort of 1529 patients with functional constipation, adverse reactions were primarily mild to moderate (1048/1529,68.5%). They comprised fever in 54 patients (3.5%), dizziness or fatigue in 218 (14.3%), throat discomfort in 806 (52.7%), nausea and vomiting in 166 (10.9%), and abdominal distension or pain in 415 (27.1%). According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, PAC-SYM scores were associated with the rate of adverse reactions, higher scores indicating a lower risk (OR = 0.958, 95% CI: 0.923–0.993, P=0.021). Among the 1529 patients, 274 (17.9%) underwent two or more treatment courses. After one treatment course, the patients' PAC-SYM scores decreased from (37.7 ± 3.2) pre-treatment to (23.7 ± 8.6) (mean difference 14.0 ± 9.1). PAC-SYM scores decreased by (20.7 ± 7.7) after two courses of FMT, and by (19.4 ± 6.3) after three courses. After treatment, 50.7%(775/1529) of patients reported satisfaction scores of ≥4. Adverse reactions impacted satisfaction; specifically, dizziness/fatigue, throat discomfort, and abdominal distension/pain were significantly associated with satisfaction (all P < 0.05). Conclusions:FMT achieved good relief of symptoms of functional constipation and multiple treatment courses have a cumulative effect. Adverse reactions, mainly dizziness/fatigue, throat discomfort, and abdominal distension/pain, had significant negative impacts on patient satisfaction.

Objective To explore the effects and mechanisms of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs)in regulating microglial polarization on neuropathic pain in rats with sciatic nerve branch-selective injury(SNI).Methods Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into five groups with ten rats in each group;sham group(rats only exposed sciatic nerve without ligation),SNI group(SNI model was estab-lished),BMSCs group[rats were injected with BMSCs(1×106)through the sheath for 3 days after SNI modeling],BMSCs+sh-NC group[rats were intrathecally injected with BMSCs(1×106)and intrathecally injected with knock-down control(adenovirus 2.5×107 IU)for 3 days after SNI modeling],and BMSCs+sh-YY1 group[rats were intrathecally injected with BMSCs(1×106)and intrathecally injected with YY1 knockdown adenovirus(2.5×107 IU)for 3 days after SNI modeling].Neuropathic pain was assessed using paw withdrawal threshold(PWT)and paw withdrawal thermal latency(PWTL)following mechanical stimulation.Immunofluorescence was used to detect the expression of CD86,CD206,iNOS,and Arg1 in the rat spinal cord tissues.Western blotting was used to measure the expression of YY1 and KLF4 in spinal cord tissue.Results Compared with sham group,the values of PWTL and PWT in the SNI group significantly reduced(both P<0.05).In spinal cord tissue,the positive rates of iNOS and CD86 protein increased,whereas the positive rates of CD206 and Arg1 protein and the expression of YY1 and KLF4 decreased(all P<0.05).Compared with the SNI group,the values of PWTL and PWT in the BMSCs and BMSCs+sh-NC groups increased(all P<0.05),the positive rate of CD86 protein in the spinal cord decreased,whereas the positive rate of CD206 protein and the expression of YY1 and KLF4 increased(all P<0.05).Also,the positive rate of iNOS protein in the spinal cord tissue decreased and the positive rate of Arg1 increased in the BMSCs group(all P<0.05).Compared with the BMSCs and BMSCs+sh-NC groups,the PWTL and PWT values in the BMSCs+sh-YY1 group decreased(all P<0.05).The positivity rate of CD86 protein increased,the positivity rate of CD206 protein decreased,and the expression of YY1 and KLF4 decreased in the spinal cord tissue(all P<0.05).Conclusion Intrathecal injection of BMSCs promotes M2 polarization of microglia in the spinal cord and relieves neuropathic pain in rats with SNI,and its mechanism may be related to the upregulation of KLF4 expression mediated by YY1.

Objective To summarize the changing prevalence of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacterales based on the data of CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021 for improving antimicrobial treatment in clinical practice.Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using a commercial automated susceptibility testing system according to the unified CHINET protocol.The results were interpreted according to the breakpoints of the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)M100 31st ed in 2021.Results Over the seven-year period(2015-2021),the overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales(CRE)was 9.43％(62 342/661 235).The prevalence of CRE strains in Klebsiella pneumoniae,Citrobacter freundii,and Enterobacter cloacae was 22.38％,9.73％,and 8.47％,respectively.The prevalence of CRE strains in Escherichia coli was 1.99％.A few CRE strains were also identified in Salmonella and Shigella.The CRE strains were mainly isolated from respiratory specimens(44.23±2.80)％,followed by blood(20.88±3.40)％and urine(18.40±3.45)％.Intensive care units(ICUs)were the major source of the CRE strains(27.43±5.20)％.CRE strains were resistant to all the β-lactam antibiotics tested and most non-β-lactam antimicrobial agents.The CRE strains were relatively susceptible to tigecycline and polymyxins with low resistance rates.Conclusions The prevalence of CRE strains was increasing from 2015 to 2021.CRE strains were highly resistant to most of the antibacterial drugs used in clinical practice.Clinicians should prescribe antimicrobial agents rationally.Hospitals should strengthen antibiotic stewardship in key clinical settings such as ICUs,and take effective infection control measures to curb CRE outbreak and epidemic in hospitals.

Objective To characterize the changing species distribution and antibiotic resistance profiles of respiratory isolates in hospitals participating in the CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021.Methods Commercial automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems and disk diffusion method were used to test the susceptibility of respiratory bacterial isolates to antimicrobial agents following the standardized technical protocol established by the CHINET program.Results A total of 589 746 respiratory isolates were collected from 2015 to 2021.Overall,82.6％of the isolates were Gram-negative bacteria and 17.4％were Gram-positive bacteria.The bacterial isolates from outpatients and inpatients accounted for(6.0±0.9)％and(94.0±0.1)％,respectively.The top microorganisms were Klebsiella spp.,Acinetobacter spp.,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus,Haemophilus spp.,Stenotrophomonas maltophilia,Escherichia coli,and Streptococcus pneumoniae.Each microorganism was isolated from significantly more males than from females(P＜0.05).The overall prevalence of methicillin-resistant S.aureus(MRSA)was 39.9％.The prevalence of penicillin-resistant S.pneumoniae was 1.4％.The prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase(ESBL)-producing E.coli and K.pneumoniae was 67.8％and 41.3％,respectively.The overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant E.coli,K.pneumoniae,Enterobacter cloacae,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Acinetobacter baumannii was 3.7％,20.8％,9.4％,29.8％,and 73.3％,respectively.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 96.1％in Moraxella catarrhalis and 60.0％in Haemophilus influenzae.The H.influenzae isolates from children(＜18 years)showed significantly higher resistance rates to β-lactam antibiotics than the isolates from adults(P＜0.05).Conclusions Gram-negative bacteria are still predominant in respiratory isolates associated with serious antibiotic resistance.Antimicrobial resistance surveillance should be strengthened in clinical practice to support accurate etiological diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial therapy based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing results.

AIM:To explore the causal association between the counts of five types of white blood cells—neutrophils,monocytes,eosinophils,baso-phils,and lymphocytes—and venous thromboem-bolism(VTE).METHODS:Mendelian randomization(MR)analysis method was used,with genetic vari-ants associated with the five types of white blood cells as instrumental variables,and venous throm-boembolism occurrence risk as the outcome vari-able,inverse variance-weighted(IVW)method was employed as the primary analysis method,with MR-Egger regression,weighted median(WM),sim-ple model,and weighted mode methods used as supplements,to analyze the causal association be-tween the counts of five types of white blood cells and VTE,followed by reverse MR analysis.RE-SULTS:Neutrophil and lymphocyte counts are caus-ally associated with the risk of VTE.For neutrophil count,the IVW estimate(OR=0.867,95%CI:0.761-0.981,P=0.031),MR-Egger estimate(OR=0.754,95%CI:0.571-0.996,P=0.048),weighted median es-timate(OR=0.846,95%CI:0.729-0.981,P=0.027),and weighted model estimate(OR=0.748,95%CI:0.595-0.942,P=0.014)were calculated.For lympho-cyte count,the IVW estimate(OR=0.838,95%CI:0.741-0.949,P=0.005)and weighted median esti-mate(OR=0.024,95%CI:0.718-0.977,P=0.024)were calculated.Reverse MR analysis showed a causal association between the risk of VTE and neu-trophil count,the IVW estimate(OR=0.989,95%CI:0.980-0.999,P=0.024).CONCLUSION:Neutrophil and lymphocyte counts are related to the risk of VTE,and decrease in neutrophil and lymphocyte numbers may increase the risk of VTE.VTE occur-rence risk is associated with neutrophil count,and reducing the risk of VTE occurrence may increase neutrophil count.Further research is needed to un-derstand the underlying biological mechanisms be-hind this relationship.

Objective To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of common pathogens isolated from cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)in CHINET program from 2015 to 2021.Methods The bacterial strains isolated from CSF were identified in accordance with clinical microbiology practice standards.Antimicrobial susceptibility test was conducted using Kirby-Bauer method and automated systems per the unified CHINET protocol.Results A total of 14 014 bacterial strains were isolated from CSF samples from 2015 to 2021,including the strains isolated from inpatients(95.3％)and from outpatient and emergency care patients(4.7％).Overall,19.6％of the isolates were from children and 80.4％were from adults.Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria accounted for 68.0％and 32.0％,respectively.Coagulase negative Staphylococcus accounted for 73.0％of the total Gram-positive bacterial isolates.The prevalence of MRSA was 38.2％in children and 45.6％in adults.The prevalence of MRCNS was 67.6％in adults and 69.5％in children.A small number of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium(2.2％)and linezolid-resistant Enterococcus faecalis(3.1％)were isolated from adult patients.The resistance rates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to ceftriaxone were 52.2％and 76.4％in children,70.5％and 63.5％in adults.The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant E.coli and K.pneumoniae(CRKP)was 1.3％and 47.7％in children,6.4％and 47.9％in adults.The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii(CRAB)and Pseudomonas aeruginosa(CRPA)was 74.0％and 37.1％in children,81.7％and 39.9％in adults.Conclusions The data derived from antimicrobial resistance surveillance are crucial for clinicians to make evidence-based decisions regarding antibiotic therapy.Attention should be paid to the Gram-negative bacteria,especially CRKP and CRAB in central nervous system(CNS)infections.Ongoing antimicrobial resistance surveillance is helpful for optimizing antibiotic use in CNS infections.