Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and independent risk factors of severe disease in patients with anti-nuclear matrix protein (NXP) 2 antibody-positive juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted, including 219 anti-NXP2 antibody-positive JDM patients admitted to 23 children′s hospitals across China from July 2011 to July 2023. Patients were classified into severe and non-severe groups based on classification criteria for severe dermatomyositis. Demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, and laboratory parameters were compared between the 2 groups using independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, or χ2 test. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for severe disease. The receiver operating characteristic curve was employed to calculate optimal cut-off values. Results:Among the 219 patients, 108 were male and 111 were female, with an age at onset of 6.3 (3.5, 9.4) years. The severe group comprised 69 patients, and the non-severe group 150 patients. The severe group had significantly higher rates of fever, heliotrope rash, subcutaneous edema, periorbital edema, anti-Ro52 antibody positivity, as well as elevated levels of ferritin-to-albumin ratio (FAR), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis identified anti-Ro52 antibody positivity ( OR=13.26, 95% CI 1.37-128.29) and elevated FAR ( OR=1.90, 95% CI 1.09-2.31) as independent risk factors for severe anti-NXP2 antibody-positive JDM (both P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that a FAR cutoff value of 6.82 predicted severe disease with an area under the curve of 0.87 (95% CI 0.81-0.94, P<0.001), sensitivity of 0.85, and specificity of 0.70. All patients received glucocorticoid therapy, and the severe group received higher proportions of steroid pulse therapy, cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, intravenous immunoglobulin, biologics, and adjuvant treatments compared to the non-severe group (all P<0.05). In terms of outcomes, 2 patients (2.9%) in the severe group died (due to neurological involvement and intestinal perforation, respectively), while the remaining patients achieved complete clinical response or remission. All patients in the non-severe group achieved remission. Conclusions:The primary clinical features of anti-NXP2 antibody-positive JDM included fever, heliotrope rash, subcutaneous edema, periorbital edema, anti-Ro52 antibody positivity, and elevated levels of CK, AST, LDH, and FAR. Furthermore, anti-Ro52 antibody positivity and a FAR>6.82 were identified as independent risk factors.

Objective:To observe the effect of sodium cantharidate assisted bevacizumab in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients.Methods:A total of 120 patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma from January 2021 to December 2023 were divided into two groups,namely the experimental group and the matched group,each consisting of 60 cases.All patients were treated with AP(cisplatin+pemetrexed)chemotherapy,and bevacizumab(7.5 mg/kg)was administered intravenously at the same time as chemotherapy in the matched group,while sodium bengalate(0.5 mg)was added intravenously in the experimental group on the basis of the matched group,and the patients in the two groups were compared with each other in terms of the clinical efficacy of the two groups in a cycle of 21 d,and the changes in the indicators of the immune function,symptoms and scores of adverse reactions were also compared before and after the 4 consecutive cycles of treatment.After 4 consecutive cycles of treatment,we compared the clinical efficacy,immune function indexes,symptoms,and the incidence of adverse reactions.Results:There was no difference in disease control rate(P＞0.05),and the objective response rate was higher than the matched group(P＜0.05);Pretherapy,tthe levels of natural killer(NK)cells,CD4+/CD8+,immunoglobulin(Ig)G and IgA were different between the test and matched group(P＞0.05).Post-treatment,the levels of NK cells,CD4+/CD8+,IgG,and IgA in the experimental group increased,while there was no significant change in the matched group.The experimental group was higher than the matched group(P＜0.05);Pretherapy,there was no difference in VAS and BFI scores between the experimental group and the matched group(P＞0.05).Post-treatment,the scores of the Simplified Fatigue Scale(BFI)and Visual Analog Scale(VAS)in both groups decreased,and the experimental group was lower than the matched group(P＜0.05);The incidence of grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ gastrointestinal reactions,liver and kidney dysfunction,bone marrow suppression,leukopenia,and grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ bone marrow suppression in the experimental group were all lower than those in the matched group(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Sodium cantharidate assisted bevacizumab therapy has a significant effect on non-small cell lung cancer.Compared with single chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab,it can improve the objective remission rate of patients,improve their immune function level,alleviate pain and cancer-related fatigue symptoms,and assist in reducing the incidence of adverse reactions caused by bevacizumab and chemotherapy.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of specific IgE antibodies against Alternaria alternata and Aspergillus fumigatus in serum samples from clinical allergy patients across selected provinces in China.Methods Data on specific IgE antibodies for Alternaria A.and Aspergillus F.were collected from 20 hospital laboratories in 17 cities spanning 11 provinces.The study analyzed the levels of specific IgE and their variations across different provinces and seasons.Results A total of 27 471 cases of Alternaria A.and 32 843 cases of Aspergillus F.specific IgE data were included.The national average positive rate of Alternaria A.IgE was 10.40%,with the highest rate of 22.68%in Jiangsu and the lowest rate of 2.06%in Guangxi.For Aspergillus F.specific IgE,the average positive rate was 4.24%,with Hubei province having the highest rate(7.25%)and Hunan province the lowest(1.23%).The difference in IgE levels for both Alternaria A.and Aspergillus F.among provinces were statistically significant(H=9 955,16 993,all P<0.0001).Among patients,5.85%had Alternaria A.specific IgE levels at grade 3 or above,while only 0.57%had Aspergillus F.specific IgE levels at this level.When examining seasonal variations using data from Liaoning,Hunan and Anhui provinces,significant seasonal changes were observed for both Alternaria A.and Aspergillus F.IgE antibodies(HAlternaria A=347.6,338.0,401.3,HAspergillus F=196.6,133.7,231.7,all P<0.0001).Conclusion The sensitization to Alternaria A.and Aspergillus F.exhibits distinct geographical characteristics and vary significantly with seasons.Given the relatively high IgE levels associated with Alternaria A.,it should be given adequate clinical attention.

Albendazole-glucan particles(ABZ-GPS)and abendazole(ABZ)were used to treat secondary alveolar echinococ-cosis in mice.The therapeutic effects of ABZ-GPS on alveolar echinococcosis in vivo were evaluated,and the feasibility of using glucan particles as anti-hydatid drug carriers was further verified.Mice with echinococcosis were randomly divided into an ABZ group,glucan nanoparticle(GP)group,ABZ-GPS group,and control group.After four courses of administration with a final concentration of 50 mg/mL,the therapeutic effects of ABZ-GPS were evaluated on the basis of imaging,histopathological changes,ultrastructure,and immunology.After ABZ-GPS and ABZ administration,clear liver lesion tissue necrosis and large numbers of infiltrating lymphocytes were observed.Significant differences in the average cyst wet weight(t=7.83,P＜0.05),were observed between the ABZ-GPS group and ABZ group.Imaging revealed that ABZ-GPs were targeted to liver tissue.Pa-thology and ultrastructure analyses demonstrated that the alveolar hydatid cells in the liver in the control group and GP group grew well,and the vesicles were large,filled with cystic fluid,and translucent or transparent;the cyst wall tension was high;no calcification was observed;the stratum corneum and germinal layer were clear;and more fertile capsules and different num-bers of protocephalospora were present in the liver.In the ABZ group,the capsular cavity collapsed,and showed partial necro-sis and lymphocyte infiltration.In the ABZ-GP group,the corneum and germinal layer of echinococcus vesicles were difficult to identify,and we observed bulbous necrosis,central calcification,fibrous tissue hyperplasia,inflammatory cell infiltration,coarser,shorter or absent microvilli of the germinal layer,nuclear shrinkage,dissolution or disappearance,clear expansion of cytoplasmic microtubules,and myelin-like or vacuole-like changes.Therefore,ABZ-GPs showed good targeting and killing ac-tivity in vivo in mice with secondary alveolar coccosis.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)with half-dose recombinant staphylokinase(r-SAK)in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI)who are expected to undergo PCI within 120 minutes.Methods From October 2021 to August 2022,a total of 200 STEMI patients in eight centers were included and randomly assigned in a 1﹕1 ratio to either r-SAK group or control group.Patients received loading doses of aspirin and ticagrelor and intravenous heparin and were randomized to receive an intravenous bolus of either 5 mg r-SAK or normal saline prior to PCI.The outcomes were set as ST-segment resolution(STR)at 60-90 minutes after PCI,the proportion and transition of pathological Q waves on the 5th day after PCI,and the proportion of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T(hs-cTnT)peaking within 12 hours of onset.The safety outcome was major bleeding events defined as Bleeding Academic Research Consortium(BARC)≥type 3 bleeding during hospitalization.Results Compared with the control group,the r-SAK group had a higher proportion of STR≥70%within 60-90 minutes after PCI(58.3%vs.40.3%,P=0.009);a lower proportion of pathological Q waves(59.1%vs.74.1%,P=0.040);a lower rate of Q wave progression(14.8%vs.43.2%,P＜0.001);a higher rate of Q wave disappearance(12.5%vs.3.7%,P=0.027);and a higher proportion of hs-cTnT peaking within 12 hours of symptom onset[31/40(77.5%)vs.17/33(51.5%),P=0.027].Regarding the safety outcome,no significant difference in BARC≥type 3 bleeding was found between the two groups during hospitalization(P＞0.05).Conclusions For STEMI patients who were expected to undergo primary PCI within 120 minutes of symptom onset,the facilitated PCI with half-dose r-SAK significantly increased the proportion of STR≥70%at 60-90 minutes after PCI,reduced the formation of pathological Q waves,and shortened the time to peak hs-cTnT,without increasing the risk of bleeding,which should be an alternative reperfusion strategy worthy of further study.

Objective To develop a predictive model for postoperative mortality risk in patients with acute aortic dissection(AAD)using the Extreme Gradient Boosting(XGBoost)algorithm combined with Shapley Additive Explanation(SHAP),and to establish a prediction website to serve as a diagnostic and therapeutic support platform for clinicians and patients.Methods A retrospective cohort study design was adopted.Data from 782 AAD patients who underwent surgical treatment at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2013 to December 2023 were collected,including basic information and initial serum biomarker test results.Patients were randomly divided into training and test sets at a 7:3 ratio.An external validation set consisting of 313 AAD patients admitted to the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2020 to December 2023 was also established for further model validation.Variables were screened using LASSO regression,and an XGBoost machine learning model was constructed and interpreted using SHAP.The predictive performance of the model was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis.Using the Shiny package,the XGBoost model was deployed to shinyapps.io to create a prediction website for postoperative mortality risk in AAD patients.One patient was selected by simple random sampling from the test set and the external validation set respectively for the prediction example on the Shiny webpage.Results The XGBoost model demonstrated high predictive performance for postoperative mortality in AAD patients,with area under the ROC curve(AUC)values of 0.928(95%CI 0.901-0.956)in the training set,0.919(95%CI 0.891-0.949)in the test set,and 0.941(95%CI 0.915-0.967)in the external validation set.SHAP values indicated the following order of variable importance in the model(from highest to lowest):"lactate dehydrogenase""blood chlorine""multiple organ injury""carbon dioxide combining power""prothrombin time""α-hydroxybutyric acid""creatine kinase isoenzyme""Stanford classification""combined use of bedside blood purification""gender""acute kidney injury""gastrointestinal bleeding""brain injury"and"shock".A risk prediction website for adverse postoperative outcomes in AAD patients was developed using XGBoost-SHAP method(https://dun-dunxiaolu.shinyapps.io/document/)and validated with examples.One randomly selected patient from each of the test and external validation sets was applied:the predicted mortality risk value for patient 1(who died postoperatively)was 0.9539,and that for patient 2(who survived postoperatively)was 0.0206.Conclusions The XGBoost-SHAP model demonstrates high accuracy in predicting postoperative mortality risk for AAD patients.The online prediction tool established based on this model enhances the identification efficiency of high-risk postoperative mortality patients.

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterized by persistent or recurrent dyspeptic symptoms without identifiable organic, systemic or metabolic causes, is an increasingly recognized global health issue. The objective of this guideline is to equip clinicians and nursing professionals with evidence-based strategies for the management and treatment of adult patients with FD using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Guideline Development Group consulted existing TCM consensus documents on FD and convened a panel of 35 clinicians to generate initial clinical queries. To address these queries, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, China Biology Medicine (SinoMed) Database, Wanfang Database, Traditional Medicine Research Data Expanded (TMRDE), and the Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (TCMLARS). The evidence from the literature was critically appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The strength of the recommendations was ascertained through a consensus-building process involving TCM and allopathic medicine experts, methodologists, pharmacologists, nursing specialists, and health economists, leveraging their collective expertise and empirical knowledge. The guideline comprises a total of 43 evidence-informed recommendations that span a range of clinical aspects, including the pathogenesis according to TCM, diagnostic approaches, therapeutic interventions, efficacy assessments, and prognostic considerations. Please cite this article as: Zhang SS, Zhao LQ, Hou XH, Bian ZX, Zheng JH, Tian HH, Yang GH, Hong WS, He YY, Liu L, Shen H, Li YP, Xie S, Shu J, Zeng BF, Li JX, Liu Z, Xiao ZH, Xiao JD, Zheng PY, Huang SG, Chen SL, Fei GJ. International clinical practice guideline on the use of traditional Chinese medicine for functional dyspepsia (2025). J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):502-518.
Dyspepsia/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture therapy provides a complementary and alternative approach to treating major depressive disorder (MDD), but its efficacy and safety have still not been comprehensively assessed. Recently published systematic reviews remain confusing and inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review evaluated the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy alone or combined with antidepressants for adult patients with mild and moderate MDD. SEARCH STRATEGY: Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched from their inceptions to March 2025. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials that compared acupuncture therapy with antidepressants, or acupuncture therapy plus antidepressants with acupuncture therapy or antidepressants for adult patients with mild and moderate MDD were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Five reviewers independently extracted data from original literature using a standardized form, and the data were verified by two reviewers to ensure accuracy. Statistical meta-analyses, publication bias analyses, and subgroup analyses were performed by using Review Manager 5.3 software. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to assess the certainty of the evidence. RESULTS: A total of 60 eligible studies including 4675 participants were included. Low-certainty evidence showed that compared with antidepressants, acupuncture therapy (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [-0.87, -0.27]; I² = 86%; P = 0.006) or acupuncture therapy plus antidepressants (SMD = -1.00; 95% CI = [-1.18, -0.81]; I² = 77%; P < 0.00001) may reduce the severity of depression at the end of treatment. Low-certainty evidence indicated that compared with acupuncture therapy alone, acupuncture therapy plus antidepressants slightly reduced the severity of depression at the end of treatment (SMD = -0.38; 95% CI = [-0.61, -0.14]; I² = 18%; P = 0.002). Similar results were also found for acupuncture's relief of insomnia. The reported adverse effects of acupuncture therapy were mild and transient. For most of the subgroup analyses, acupuncture type, scale type, and the course of treatment did not show a significant relative effect. CONCLUSION Acupuncture therapy may provide antidepressant effects and relieve insomnia with mild adverse effects for adult patients with mild and moderate MDD. But the certainty of evidence was very low. More high-quality, well designed, large-scale studies with long-term follow-up are needed in the future. Please cite this article as: Kuang HJ, Yang HS, Feng YX, Tang H, Fan Q, Xu YQ, Cui S, Musil R, Luxenburger H, Zhang YX, Zhao H, Zhang YQ. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapies for adult patients with mild and moderate major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):471-491.
Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Depressive Disorder, Major/therapy* ; Adult ; Antidepressive Agents/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Wastewater-based epidemiology has emerged as a transformative surveillance tool for estimating substance consumption and monitoring disease prevalence, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It enables the population-level monitoring of illicit drug use, pathogen prevalence, and environmental pollutant exposure. In this perspective, we summarize the key challenges specific to the Chinese context: (1) Sampling inconsistencies, necessitating standardized 24-hour composite protocols with high-frequency autosamplers (≤ 15 min/event) to improve the representativeness of samples; (2) Biomarker validation, requiring rigorous assessment of excretion profiles and in-sewer stability; (3) Analytical method disparities, demanding inter-laboratory proficiency testing and the development of automated pretreatment instruments; (4) Catchment population dynamics, reducing estimation uncertainties through mobile phone data, flow-based models, or hydrochemical parameters; and (5) Ethical and data management concerns, including privacy risks for small communities, mitigated through data de-identification and tiered reporting platforms. To address these challenges, we propose an integrated framework that features adaptive sampling networks, multi-scale wastewater sample banks, biomarker databases with multidimensional metadata, and intelligent data dashboards. In summary, wastewater-based epidemiology offers unparalleled scalability for equitable health surveillance and can improve the health of the entire population by providing timely and objective information to guide the development of targeted policies.
China/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Wastewater/analysis* ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Public Health ; Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring ; SARS-CoV-2