ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of early intradermal needle therapy in preventing retained products of conception （RPOC） following induced abortion. MethodsA randomized， single-blind， placebo-controlled trial design was applied. Eighty-eight patients scheduled for early induced abortion were randomly assigned to either an intradermal needle group （44 cases） or a sham control group （44 cases）. Both groups underwent ultrasound-guided vacuum aspiration under general anesthesia and received standard postoperative pharmacological care. Immediately following the operation， the intradermal needle group received active intradermal needle therapy at bilateral Sanyinjiao （SP 6）， Hegu （LI 4） and Zhiyin （BL 67）， with needles retaining for 3 days， acupoint pressing three times daily for 5 minutes per acupoint， followed by 5 minutes of walking after each pressing session； while the sham control group received a visually identical， blunt-tipped sham needle intervention. The primary outcome was endometrial thickness measured by Doppler ultrasound at week 2 post-procedure. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of RPOC， visual analog scale （VAS） score and PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version （PCL-C） score at 2 hours post-procedure， volume and duration of vaginal bleeding， uterine volume， Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart （PBAC） scores at weeks 5 and 12， menstrual cycle characteristics， and adverse events should be recorded. ResultsAt week 2 post-procedure， endometrial thickness was significantly lower in the intradermal needle group compared to the sham control group （P＜0.05）. Transvaginal ultrasonography at postoperative week 2 showed thinner endometrium in the intradermal needle group than in the sham group （P＜0.05）. RPOC occurred 1 case （2.27%） in the intradermal needle group versus 9 cases （20.45%） in the sham control group， yielding a significantly higher RPOC incidence in the sham control group （P＜0.05）. Patients in the intradermal needle group had less postoperative vaginal bleeding volume and shorter bleeding duration than those in the sham control group （P＜0.05）. No statistically significant difference was found in 2-hour postoperative VAS pain score， uterine volume at postoperative week 2 and week 5， PBAC score at postoperative week 5 and week 12， or menstrual cycle at postoperative week 12 between groups（all P＞0.05）. No obvious adverse reactions were observed in either group. ConclusionImmediate intradermal needle intervention after early induced abortion can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative RPOC， exert beneficial effects on reducing the volume and duration of postoperative vaginal bleeding as well as alleviating post-traumatic stress symptoms， with good safety.

Objective·To explore the effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation(iTBS)targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC)on reducing craving in alcohol-dependent patients during the withdrawal period,as well as its impact on patients'emotions and cognitive functions.Methods·A total of 41 inpatients with alcohol dependence in the withdrawal period were recruited from the Addiction Department of Mental Health Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,and randomly assigned to the experimental group(20 patients)and the control group(21 patients).Both groups received routine inpatient treatment for alcohol-dependence.The experimental group received real iTBS stimulation targeting the left DLPFC on the basis of routine inpatient treatment,while the control group received sham stimulation with the same parameters.The intervention course lasted for 2 weeks,with a total of 10 sessions.The Visual Analogue Scale(VAS),Beck Depression Inventory(BDI),and Beck Anxiety Inventory(BAI)were used to measure the craving,anxiety,and depression of the patients before and after the intervention.The behavioral tasks of the detection task(DET),identification task(IDN),two back task(TWOB),the Groton maze learning task(GML),and international shopping list task(ISL)in the CogState software package were used to assess the cognitive processing speed,attention/vigilance,working memory,spatial problem-solving/error monitoring ability,and verbal learning and memory of the patients before and after the intervention.Results·Repeated measures ANOVA showed that the time effect[F=126.713,P＜0.001,partial η2(ηp2)=0.765]and interaction effect(F=7.080.P=0.011,ηp2=0.154)of the VAS scores in the two groups of patients were statistically significant.The time effect(F=9.114,P=0.004,ηp2=0.189),group effect(F=5.557,P=0.024,ηp2=0.125),and interaction effect(F=4.977,P=0.032,η2=0.113)of the TWOB score were all statistically significant.Only the time effects of BDI(F=45.273,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.578),BAI(F=31.432,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.473),GML(F=8.993,P=0.005,ηp2=0.209),and ISL(F=26.657,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.439)scores were statistically significant.There were no statistically significant effects of time,group,or interaction on the DET and IDN scores.Simple effect analysis showed that the VAS score of the real stimulation group was lower than that of the sham stimulation group after the intervention(F=8.805,P=0.005,ηp2=0.184),and the TWOB score of the real stimulation group was higher than that of the sham stimulation group(F=11.293,P=0.002,ηp2=0.225).Conclusion·Combining iTBS with routine inpatient treatment can enhance the efficacy of reducing alcohol craving in alcohol-dependent patients during the withdrawal period,and improve their working memory.

AIM:To explore the correlation be-tween trimethylamine N-oxide(TMAO)and Hashi-moto's thyroiditis(HT)and to provide new ideas for early clinical diagnosis of HT.METHODS:A total of 102 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT group)and 204 healthy individuals(control group)were included in the study and clinical data were collected.Serum TMAO levels was determined by stable isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS).SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis.RESULTS:Analysis of the baseline data revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the TMAO levels and gender between the HT group and the control group(P<0.05).In the high-level TMAO group,the proportion of HT(63.7%)was significantly higher than that of the control group(18.6%),the regression analysis showed that high levels of TMAO were correlated with HT and positively correlated with the levels of thyroid peroxidase antibody(TPOAb),thyroglobulin antibody(TgAb),Logistic regression analysis further revealed that serum TMAO was a risk factor for the development of HT.CONCLUSION:In the TMAO>6.80 μmol/L group,the level of TMAO was correlat-ed with HT,and the high level of TMAO was posi-tively correlated with TPOAb and TgAb,which were risk factors for the occurrence of HT.It is suggested that TMAO can predict the risk of HT and has cer-tain clinical value.

AIM:To explore the correlation be-tween trimethylamine N-oxide(TMAO)and Hashi-moto's thyroiditis(HT)and to provide new ideas for early clinical diagnosis of HT.METHODS:A total of 102 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT group)and 204 healthy individuals(control group)were included in the study and clinical data were collected.Serum TMAO levels was determined by stable isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS).SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis.RESULTS:Analysis of the baseline data revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the TMAO levels and gender between the HT group and the control group(P<0.05).In the high-level TMAO group,the proportion of HT(63.7%)was significantly higher than that of the control group(18.6%),the regression analysis showed that high levels of TMAO were correlated with HT and positively correlated with the levels of thyroid peroxidase antibody(TPOAb),thyroglobulin antibody(TgAb),Logistic regression analysis further revealed that serum TMAO was a risk factor for the development of HT.CONCLUSION:In the TMAO>6.80 μmol/L group,the level of TMAO was correlat-ed with HT,and the high level of TMAO was posi-tively correlated with TPOAb and TgAb,which were risk factors for the occurrence of HT.It is suggested that TMAO can predict the risk of HT and has cer-tain clinical value.

Objective·To explore the effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation(iTBS)targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC)on reducing craving in alcohol-dependent patients during the withdrawal period,as well as its impact on patients'emotions and cognitive functions.Methods·A total of 41 inpatients with alcohol dependence in the withdrawal period were recruited from the Addiction Department of Mental Health Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,and randomly assigned to the experimental group(20 patients)and the control group(21 patients).Both groups received routine inpatient treatment for alcohol-dependence.The experimental group received real iTBS stimulation targeting the left DLPFC on the basis of routine inpatient treatment,while the control group received sham stimulation with the same parameters.The intervention course lasted for 2 weeks,with a total of 10 sessions.The Visual Analogue Scale(VAS),Beck Depression Inventory(BDI),and Beck Anxiety Inventory(BAI)were used to measure the craving,anxiety,and depression of the patients before and after the intervention.The behavioral tasks of the detection task(DET),identification task(IDN),two back task(TWOB),the Groton maze learning task(GML),and international shopping list task(ISL)in the CogState software package were used to assess the cognitive processing speed,attention/vigilance,working memory,spatial problem-solving/error monitoring ability,and verbal learning and memory of the patients before and after the intervention.Results·Repeated measures ANOVA showed that the time effect[F=126.713,P＜0.001,partial η2(ηp2)=0.765]and interaction effect(F=7.080.P=0.011,ηp2=0.154)of the VAS scores in the two groups of patients were statistically significant.The time effect(F=9.114,P=0.004,ηp2=0.189),group effect(F=5.557,P=0.024,ηp2=0.125),and interaction effect(F=4.977,P=0.032,η2=0.113)of the TWOB score were all statistically significant.Only the time effects of BDI(F=45.273,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.578),BAI(F=31.432,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.473),GML(F=8.993,P=0.005,ηp2=0.209),and ISL(F=26.657,P＜0.001,ηp2=0.439)scores were statistically significant.There were no statistically significant effects of time,group,or interaction on the DET and IDN scores.Simple effect analysis showed that the VAS score of the real stimulation group was lower than that of the sham stimulation group after the intervention(F=8.805,P=0.005,ηp2=0.184),and the TWOB score of the real stimulation group was higher than that of the sham stimulation group(F=11.293,P=0.002,ηp2=0.225).Conclusion·Combining iTBS with routine inpatient treatment can enhance the efficacy of reducing alcohol craving in alcohol-dependent patients during the withdrawal period,and improve their working memory.

Objective:To study the effect of related laboratory indexes such as glycosylated hemoglobin on the occurrence of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to construct a nomogram model.Methods:The clinical data of 203 patients with 2 diabetes mellitus from May 2020 to April 2022 in Quzhou Hospital, Zhejiang Medical and Health Group were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 64 patients had no diabetic complications (control group), and 139 patients had diabetic complications (complication group). The clinical data of the two groups were recorded, and the related influencing factors of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes were analyzed; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predicting value of significant indexes for the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes; multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes; R language software 4.0 "rms" package was used to construct the nomogram model for predicting the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes, the calibration curve was internally validated, and the decision curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficacy of the nomogram model.Results:The hypertension rate, hyperlipemia rate, course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in complication group were significantly higher in those in control group: 44.60% (62/139) vs. 20.31% (13/64), 48.92% (68/139) vs. 25.00% (16/64), (5.42 ± 0.68) years vs. (4.84 ± 0.51) years, (12.60 ± 2.80) mmol/L vs. (10.20 ± 1.90) mmol/L, (16.50 ± 3.10) mmol/L vs. (12.50 ± 2.90) mmol/L and (9.62 ± 1.33)% vs. (7.96 ± 0.85)%, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01); there were no statistical differences in gender composition, age, body mass index, smoking rate, drinking rate, albumin and creatinine between the two groups ( P>0.05). ROC curve analysis result showed that the area under the curve of the course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin for predicting the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes were 0.725, 0.752, 0.830 and 0.861, respectively; the optimal cut-off values were 5 year, 11.8 mmol/L, 15.1 mmol/L and 9.23%. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis result showed that hypertension, hyperlipemia, course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin were independent risk factors of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes ( OR = 1.563, 1.692, 1.451, 1.703, 1.506 and 1.805; 95% CI 1.268 to 1.689, 1.483 to 1.824, 1.215 to 1.620, 1.402 to 1.903, 1.303 to 1.801 and 1.697 to 1.926; P<0.05). The hypertension, hyperlipemia, course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin were used as predictors to construct a nomogram model for predicting the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. Internal validation result showed that the nomogram model predicted the complications with good concordance in patients with type 2 diabetes (C-index = 0.815, 95% CI 0.796 to 0.843); the nomogram model predicted the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes at a threshold >0.18, provided a net clinical benefit, and all had higher clinical net benefits than hypertension, hyperlipemia, course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin. Conclusions:The nomogram model constructed based on hypertension, hyperlipemia, course of disease, fasting blood glucose, postprandial 2 h blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin has better clinical value in predicting the complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

In recent years, progress has been made in general practice education research with the integration of narrative medicine and general practice. The narrative medicine is conducive to upgrading the abilities of general practice residents in doctor-patient communication, disease management and clinical decision makings; it also conducive to improvement of their humanistic quality and doctor-patient relationship. This article reviews the application of narrative medicine in the general practice residency training, and discusses relevant problems and countermeasures.

BACKGROUND: Sweat secreted by eccrine sweat glands is transported to the skin surface through the lumen. The eccrine sweat gland develops from the initial solid bud to the final gland structure with a lumen, but how the lumen is formed and the mechanism of lumen formation have not yet been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of lumen formation of eccrine gland organoids (EGOs). METHODS: Human eccrine sweat glands were isolated from the skin for tissue culture, and the primary cultured cells were collected and cultured in Matrigel for 14 days in vitro. EGOs at different development days were collected for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining to observe morphological changes and for immunofluorescence staining of proliferation marker Ki67, cellular motility marker filamentous actin (F-actin), and autophagy marker LC3B. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of Ki67, F-actin, and LC3B. Moreover, apoptosis was detected using a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) apoptosis assay kit, and the expression of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and Caspase-3 was detected by Western blot. In addition, 3-methyladenine (3MA) was used as an autophagy inhibitor to detect whether the formation of sweat glands can be effectively inhibited. RESULTS: The results showed that a single gland cell proliferated rapidly and formed EGOs on day 4. The earliest lumen formation was observed on day 6. From day 8 to day 14, the rate of lumen formation in EGOs increased significantly. The immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses showed that the expression of Ki67 gradually decreased with the increase in days, while the F-actin expression level did not change. Notably, the expression of autophagy marker LC3B was detected in the interior cells of EGOs as the apoptosis signal of EGOs was negative. Compared with the control group, the autophagy inhibitor 3MA can effectively limit the formation rate of the lumen and reduce the inner diameter of EGOs. CONCLUSION Using our model of eccrine gland 3D-reconstruction in Matrigel, we determined that autophagy rather than apoptosis plays a role in the lumen formation of EGOs.
Apoptosis ; Autophagy ; Eccrine Glands ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Organoids

Objective:To investigate the relationship between abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) through quantitative computed tomography (QCT).Methods:The present study included 76226 participants. Abdominal fat areas were measured using the QCT Pro Model 4 system. Cardiometabolic indices were collected, including systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterols CMR score was the sum of abnormal blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Restricted cubic spline and ordered logistic regression models were applied.Results:The mean age was 50±13 years and the percentage of men was 58.8%. The level of VAT area was higher in men than in women (191.7±77.1 cm 2 vs 116.4±56.2 cm 2, P<0.0001 for all). After adjustment for age, the cardiometabolic indices except high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased with increasing VAT area. When VAT area was 300 cm 2, age-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of a CMR score ≥ 1 were 14.61 (13.31, 16.04) for men and 5.46 (4.06, 7.36) for women, and the age-adjusted probability of a CMR score ≥ 3 was 31.7% for men and 31.3% for women. Conclusions:QCT-derived VAT is closely related to CMR. The findings suggest that measurement of visceral fat is recommended for the management of abdominal obesity in subjects who agree to undergo lung cancer screening via low-dose CT without additional radiation exposure.

Objective To evaluate the inductive effect of interferon-γ(IFN-γ) combined with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) on programmed necrosis of the human immortalized keratinocyte cell line HaCaT,and to explore its mechanisms.Methods In vitro cultured HaCaT cells were divided into several groups:negative control group receiving no treatment,IFN-γ group treated with 50 μg/L IFN-γ,TRAIL group treated with 4 μg/L TRAIL,and cytokine combination group treated with 50 μg/L IFN-γ and 4 μg/L TRAIL or zVAD combination group pretreated with 40 μmo/L zVAD for 1 hour followed by the treatment with 50 μg/L IFN-γand 4 μg/L TRAIL.After 48-hour treatment,the morphology of HaCaT cells were observed under a light microscope,methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium assay was performed to evaluate the inhibitory effect of the treatment on the proliferation of HaCaT cells,and double staining flow cytometry to detect the necrosis of HaCaT cells.Meanwhile,real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) was conducted to determine the mRNA expression of receptor interaction protein kinase 3 (RIP3) and mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL),Western blot analysis to determine the expression of RIP1,RIP3,MLKL proteins and their phosphorylated forms (pRIP1,pRIP3,pMLKL),immunofluorescent staining to observe the distribution of pRIP3 and pMLKL in HaCaT cells,and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HaCaT cells in the above groups was detected by the fluorescence probe DCFH-DA.Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS 22 software by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for comparing indices among different groups,and least significant difference (LSD)-t test for multiple comparisons.Results After 48-hour treatment,HaCaT cells in the cytokine combination group and zVAD combination group showed necrosis-like morphologic features.Methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazoliumassay revealed significant differences in the survival rate of HaCaT cells among the IFN-γgroup,TRAIL group,cytokine combination group,zVAD combination group and negative control group (73.16％ ± 5.71％,81.46％ ± 4.68％,72.18％ ± 2.93％,69.67％ ± 3.24％ and 100％,respectively;F =24.34,P ＜ 0.001).The necrosis rate of HaCaT cells was notably higher in the cytokine combination group and zVAD combination group (9.86％ ± 1.31％,10.33％ ± 2.16％,respectively) than in the negative control group (5.26％ ± 0.91％,t =4.61,5.07,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).qPCR revealed that the mRNA expression of RIP3 and MLKL significantly increased in the cytokine combination group and zVAD combination group compared with the negative control group (tRIP3 =0.99,1.84,tMLKL =1.51,2.17,respectively,all P ＜ 0.05).Western blot analysis suggested that the protein expression of RIP1,RIP3,MLKL,pRIP1,pRIP3 and pMLKL significantly increased in the cytokine combination group compared with the negative control group (all P ＜ 0.05),and the zVAD combination group showed significantly decreased caspase 8 expression and increased expression of the above proteins compared with the cytokine combination group.Fluorescence microscopy showed that enhanced green dot-like or clump-like fluorescent spots (representing pRIP3) could be observed in the cytoplasm,and red fluorescent spots (representing pMLKL) could be seen on the cell membrane in the cytokine combination group.The average fluorescence intensity of ROS was significantly higher in the cytokine combination group than in the negative control group (t =702.00,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion IFN-γcombined with TRAIL can induce the programmed necrosis of HaCaT cells with increased level of ROS.