Background: Clinical chemistry tests are most widely used in clinical laboratories, and diverse measurement systems for these analyses are available in China. We evaluated the imprecision of clinical chemistry measurement systems based on internal QC (IQC) data. Methods: IQC data for 27 general chemistry analytes were collected in February each year from 2013 to 2022. Four performance specifications were used to calculate pass rates for CVs of IQC data in 2022. Boxplots were drawn to analyze trends of CVs, and differences in CVs among different groups were assessed using the Mann–Whitney U-test or Kruskal– Wallis test. Results: The number of participating laboratories increased significantly from 1,777 in 2013 to 5,425 in 2022. CVs significantly decreased for all 27 analytes, except creatine kinase and lipase. Triglycerides, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, iron, and γ-glutamyl transferase achieved pass rates > 80% for all goals. Nine analytes with pass rates < 80% based on 1/3 allowable total error were further analyzed; the results indicated that closed systems exhibited lower CVs than open systems for all analytes, except total protein. For all nine analytes, differences were significant between tertiary hospitals and non-tertiary hospitals and between accredited and non-accredited laboratories. Conclusions The CVs of IQC data for clinical chemistry have seen a continuous overall improvement in China. However, there is ample room for imprecision improvement for several analytes, with stricter performance specifications.

As a crucial link in the progression of various chronic liver diseases to liver cirrhosis,liver fibrosis affects the prognosis and outcome of chronic liver diseases.Necrotosis is a novel pattern of programmed cell death(PCD),and studies have shown that it plays an important role in the pathophysiology of various diseases and is considered a potential target for improving liver fibrosis.Necroptosis of various types of intrahepatic cells(including hepatocytes,hepatic stellate cells,liver macrophages,and hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells)can promote or inhibit liver fibrosis.This article elaborates on the above mechanisms and discusses the therapeutic strategies for targeting liver fibrosis mediated by necroptosis.

Objective:To analyze the drug resistance characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx of hospitalized patients in North China from 2022 to 2023. Methods:From November 2022 to July 2023, nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 100 inpatients in Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology, and Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated and cultured. At the same time, the clinical data of the patients were collected, including gender, age, department, clinical diagnosis of disease type, etc. The minimum inhibitory concentration of strains was detected by an automatic bacterial drug sensitivity system. The drug resistance genes, ST types, capsule serotypes and population structure of the strains were analyzed by whole genome sequencing and data analysis. Results:Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from 55 nasopharyngeal swabs of 100 inpatients(55.00%). Among the 55 inpatients with Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx, 70.91% (39/55) were male, with an age distribution concentrated between 61 and 80 years old (58.18%, 32/55), and 50.91% (28/55) were in intensive care units (ICU). The main underlying disease type was nervous system disease (49.09%, 27/55). The results of drug sensitivity showed that the non-susceptibility rates of 55 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae to cephalosporins, quinolones, aztreonam and nitrofurantoin were all more than 80.00%. Twenty-eight carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains (50.91%), 47 extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing strains (85.45%), and 48 multi-drug-resistant strains (87.27%) were detected. A total of 11 antibiotic resistance genes were detected, including carbapenems (carrying rate 76.36%) and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (carrying rate 96.36%). The 55 strains could be divided into 17 ST types, and the most common type was ST11 (25.45%). The 55 strains were divided into 18 capsular serotypes, among which K102 was the most prevalent (23.64%). OXA-1_ST307_K102 (21.82%) and KPC-2_ST5492_K125 (18.18%) were the dominant clones, distributed in the Department of Neurosurgery and ICU. The result of whole genome sequence analysis showed that there were four clusters with high homology among the 55 strains. The strains from the ICU formed two independent clusters, and strains from the Neurology ICU and Neurosurgery department formed one cluster respectively. Conclusion:The carrying rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx of inpatients is high, and the drug resistance of the strains is serious. There are many types of drug-resistant genes.

Objective:To analyze the drug resistance characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx of hospitalized patients in North China from 2022 to 2023. Methods:From November 2022 to July 2023, nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 100 inpatients in Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology, and Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated and cultured. At the same time, the clinical data of the patients were collected, including gender, age, department, clinical diagnosis of disease type, etc. The minimum inhibitory concentration of strains was detected by an automatic bacterial drug sensitivity system. The drug resistance genes, ST types, capsule serotypes and population structure of the strains were analyzed by whole genome sequencing and data analysis. Results:Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from 55 nasopharyngeal swabs of 100 inpatients(55.00%). Among the 55 inpatients with Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx, 70.91% (39/55) were male, with an age distribution concentrated between 61 and 80 years old (58.18%, 32/55), and 50.91% (28/55) were in intensive care units (ICU). The main underlying disease type was nervous system disease (49.09%, 27/55). The results of drug sensitivity showed that the non-susceptibility rates of 55 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae to cephalosporins, quinolones, aztreonam and nitrofurantoin were all more than 80.00%. Twenty-eight carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains (50.91%), 47 extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing strains (85.45%), and 48 multi-drug-resistant strains (87.27%) were detected. A total of 11 antibiotic resistance genes were detected, including carbapenems (carrying rate 76.36%) and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (carrying rate 96.36%). The 55 strains could be divided into 17 ST types, and the most common type was ST11 (25.45%). The 55 strains were divided into 18 capsular serotypes, among which K102 was the most prevalent (23.64%). OXA-1_ST307_K102 (21.82%) and KPC-2_ST5492_K125 (18.18%) were the dominant clones, distributed in the Department of Neurosurgery and ICU. The result of whole genome sequence analysis showed that there were four clusters with high homology among the 55 strains. The strains from the ICU formed two independent clusters, and strains from the Neurology ICU and Neurosurgery department formed one cluster respectively. Conclusion:The carrying rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the nasopharynx of inpatients is high, and the drug resistance of the strains is serious. There are many types of drug-resistant genes.

Liver fibrosis (LF) is a pathological process of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and excessive deposition of extracellular matrix caused by chronic liver injury and inflammation. HSC activation is the core mechanism of LF, and inhibiting HSC activation is the key to promoting the reversal of LF. In recent years, rapid development has been achieved for the application of nanomedicine targeting HSC in the treatment of LF. This article mainly introduces nanomedicine, the mechanism of action of nanomedicine in the treatment of LF, and potential targets, and it is pointed out that nanomedicine may become a new method for the treatment of LF.

A-kinase anchor protein 12 (AKAP12) is a scaffold protein that improves the specificity and efficiency of spatio-temporal signals by assembling intracellular signal proteins into specific complexes. In recent years, the role of AKAP12 in chronic liver diseases has attracted more and more attention. This article introduces the physiological functions of AKAP12 and reviews the role of AKAP12 in chronic liver diseases, in order to lay a foundation for the use of AKAP12 small molecule as a new therapeutic target for chronic liver diseases.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to update the latest data on the prevalence of hypertension (HTN) in the elderly Chinese population and to assess relationships between new anthropometric indices and HTN. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Basic Public Health Service (BPHS) survey for Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 944,760 people aged 65 years and older were included in this study. Blood pressure was measured by trained investigators. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WtHR), conicity index (COI), body roundness index (BRI), and a body shape index (ABSI) were included in the analysis as anthropometric indices. Logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic splines were used to evaluate the association of anthropometric indices with HTN. RESULTS: The prevalence of HTN among elderly residents of Jiangsu Province was 64.7% (95% confidence interval, 64.6 to 64.8). After adjusting for multiple covariates, all anthropometric indices except ABSI showed significant non-linear positive dose-response associations with HTN across sex (pnonlinear<0.001). Among participants with BMI <28 kg/m2, abnormal weight, WC, WtHR, BRI, COI, and ABSI were positively associated with HTN. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of HTN in the elderly in Jiangsu Province is gradually increasing. It is necessary to consider the combination of ABSI and COI with BMI for screening elderly individuals for HTN in follow-up prospective studies.

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) belongs to the transcription factor ATF/CREB family and is a stress-induced adaptive response gene. ATF3 is involved in the regulation of various cell activities to adapt to the changes in intracellular and extracellular environments. Recent studies have shown that ATF3 plays an important role in the development and progression of various chronic liver diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, and liver cancer, by regulating gluconeogenesis, lipid metabolism, and immune function. This article reviews the mechanism of action of ATF3 in chronic liver diseases.

To improve the quality control of private hospital is urgent in China. Through the visiting to International Neuroscience Institute, Hannover, Germany, the author analyzed the advantages of Germany Medical System, and provided several beneficial aspirations for Chinese Medical System Reformation, including sound Medical Insurance System, efficient quality control based on information platform, powerful government and civilian regulator, elastic Salary Administration, and high self-discipline of medical staff.

Objective To evaluate the comparability and consistency of two kinds of triglycerides reference methods, one of which is the isotope dilution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) in the Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network (CRMLN), the other isthehigh-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for triglyceride detection in China. Methods 52 fresh frozen sera with triglycerides levels among 0.45-4.52 mmol/L were determined by LC/MS and HPLC. After evaluation the precision and accuracy of the two methods,a series of analyses were conducted including plotting to scatter plots and deviation graphs, testing outliers, selecting the best fitting regression models and calculating the regression equations and parameters, and so on. The expected deviation at the level of medical decision of triglycerides and the 95％confidence range were statistically analyzed.Results For HPLC method, the CV of instrument measurement was 0.29％(0％-1.16％), the total CV of samples measurement was 0.54％(0.04％-1.28％), and the average bias of the reference materials was 0.22％(-0.43％-0.68％). ForLC/MSmethod,the CV of instrument measurement was 0.55％(0％-1.68％),the total CV of samples measurement was 0.79％(0％-1.93％), and the average bias of the NIST reference materials was 0.09％(-0.73％-1.29％). No outlier was found from the scatter plots and the statistical analysis and the linear regression was fitted to analyze the results of the two methods. The linear regression parameters of two methods for 52 fresh frozen human sera were as follows:the slope was 0.9988,the standard error of slope was 0.0035, the intercept was 0.0037mmol/L, the standard error of intercept was 0.0030 mmol/L, the standard error of Y-estimate was 0.0236 mmol/L,and the correlation coefficient was 0.9997. Compared with the LC/MS method,the absolute deviation of fresh sera by HPLC method was-0.001 mmol/L (-0.070-0.056 mmol/L), with a relative deviation of 0.13％ (-2.01-2.83％). T-test showed no statistically significant difference between the two methods. The expected deviations at the triglycerides medicine decision level were within the 95％confidence range,and the expected deviations were far less than the allowable error. Conclusions The HPLC method of triglyceridesdetetion has good consistency and comparability with LC/MS method as one of the reference methods of CRMLN. Because of the advantages of HPLC method such as low cost, simplicity,less technical need,and better precision,HPLC method is expected to play an important role in the process of standardization and traceability of serum triglycerides.