ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of sequential administration of Dihuang Baoyuan granules （DHBY， the prescription for consolidating body resistance） and Fuling Yunhua granules （FLYH， the prescription for treating symptoms） on spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） in mice. MethodsAccording to the fasting blood glucose （FBG） level， 12-week-old db/db mice were randomized into six groups： model， DHBY （18.02 g·kg^-1）， FLYH （14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 1 （SEQ-1， DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1+FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 2 （SEQ-2， FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1+DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1）， and dapagliflozin （Dapa， 1.3 mg·kg^-1）. The m/m mice in the same litter were selected as the normal group. The mice were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 8 consecutive weeks. During the 8 weeks of drug administration and 2 weeks after withdrawal， the retinal thickness， FBG， hemoglobin A1c （HbA1c）， and insulin were determined， and histopathological changes of the pancreas， liver， kidney， and retina were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. ResultsCompared with the model group， SEQ-1 for 4 weeks lowered the FBG level （P<0.05）， raised the insulin level， decreased the triglyceride （TG） level （P<0.05）， increased the number of optic ganglion cells and diminished vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. SEQ-2 lowered FBG and HbA1c levels （P<0.05）， rose the insulin level， increased the retinal thickness and the number of optic ganglion cells （P<0.05）， and alleviated vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. Two weeks after drug withdrawal， Dapa tended to increase FBG and HbA1c compared with those at the time of drug withdrawal. However， the levels of FBG and HbA1c in the SEQ-2 group remained decreasing （P<0.05）. ConclusionSEQ-1 and SEQ-2 can lower the blood glucose level and ameliorate diabetic retinopathy， and SEQ-2 outperformed DHBY and FLYH in lowering the blood glucose level. Moreover， SEQ-2 can maintain the blood glucose-lowering effect after drug withdrawal.

ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of sequential administration of Dihuang Baoyuan granules （DHBY， the prescription for consolidating body resistance） and Fuling Yunhua granules （FLYH， the prescription for treating symptoms） on spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） in mice. MethodsAccording to the fasting blood glucose （FBG） level， 12-week-old db/db mice were randomized into six groups： model， DHBY （18.02 g·kg^-1）， FLYH （14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 1 （SEQ-1， DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1+FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1）， sequential administration 2 （SEQ-2， FLYH 14.80 g·kg^-1+DHBY 18.02 g·kg^-1）， and dapagliflozin （Dapa， 1.3 mg·kg^-1）. The m/m mice in the same litter were selected as the normal group. The mice were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 8 consecutive weeks. During the 8 weeks of drug administration and 2 weeks after withdrawal， the retinal thickness， FBG， hemoglobin A1c （HbA1c）， and insulin were determined， and histopathological changes of the pancreas， liver， kidney， and retina were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. ResultsCompared with the model group， SEQ-1 for 4 weeks lowered the FBG level （P<0.05）， raised the insulin level， decreased the triglyceride （TG） level （P<0.05）， increased the number of optic ganglion cells and diminished vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. SEQ-2 lowered FBG and HbA1c levels （P<0.05）， rose the insulin level， increased the retinal thickness and the number of optic ganglion cells （P<0.05）， and alleviated vacuolar degeneration of pancreatic islet and liver. Two weeks after drug withdrawal， Dapa tended to increase FBG and HbA1c compared with those at the time of drug withdrawal. However， the levels of FBG and HbA1c in the SEQ-2 group remained decreasing （P<0.05）. ConclusionSEQ-1 and SEQ-2 can lower the blood glucose level and ameliorate diabetic retinopathy， and SEQ-2 outperformed DHBY and FLYH in lowering the blood glucose level. Moreover， SEQ-2 can maintain the blood glucose-lowering effect after drug withdrawal.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of Qianggu Kangshu Formula (QGKSF) for alleviating osteoclast differentiation in rheumatoid arthritis and the underlying mechanism. METHODS: RAW264.7 cells cultured under hypoxic conditions were treated with RANKL to induce osteoclast differentiation and incubated with normal rat serum or sera from rats medicated with methotrexate (MTX) or QGKSF at low and high doses. Cell viability, TRAP-positive multinucleated cells and F-actin ring formation in the treated cells were assessed with CCK-8 assay, TRAP staining and Phalloidin staining, respectively. Autophagy and autophagosomes in the cells were observed with MDC staining and transmission electron microscopy. ELISA was used to measure IL-6 and TNF-α levels in the culture supernatant, and the expressions of HIF-1α, BNIP3, Bcl-2, Beclin1, LC3-I, LC3-II, P62 and TRAP mRNAs and proteins were analyzed using RT-qPCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: In hypoxia- and RANKL-induced RAW264.7 cells treated with normal rat serum, significant increments of TRAP-positive cells and F-actin ring formation were observed with an enhanced autophagic fluorescence intensity and increased autophagosomes. Treatment of the induced cells with rat sera medicated with MTX and low- and high-dose QGKSF obviously reduced the TRAP-positive cells, F-actin rings and autophagosomes as well as the autophagic fluorescence intensity. RANKL treatment significantly increased IL-6 and TNF-α levels in RAW264.7 cells, which were obviously decreased by treatment with MTX- and QGKSF-medicated sera. RANKL also significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression levels of HIF-1α, BNIP3, Bcl-2, Beclin1, LC3 and TRAP and lowered P62 expressions, and these changes were effectively reversed by treatment with MTX- and QGKSF-medicated sera. CONCLUSIONS QGKSF attenuates RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation in hypoxic RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting the HIF-1α/BNIP3 autophagy signaling pathway, suggesting its potential for treatment of bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Osteoclasts/drug effects* ; Autophagy/drug effects* ; Mice ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Rats ; Cell Differentiation/drug effects* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/pathology* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism* ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Membrane Proteins/metabolism* ; Mitochondrial Proteins

Objective This paper analyzed the characteristics and changes in the disease spectrum of internal medicine inpatients of a tertiary hospital in Zhongshan City.It aimed to explore the evolving trends in disease ranking and treatment charac-teristics to provide a scientific basis for enhancing hospital management.Methods This paper selected 26 053 patients dis-charged from the internal medicine department of the tertiary hospital in Zhongshan City between January 1,2018,and December 31,2022.A retrospective analysis was used to classify these patients by ages,hospitalization date,and relative weight.Results In the past five years,those discharged patients showed no significant increase in the number,but a significant increase in age and ase Mix Index(CMI).Conclusion Since the outbreak of COVID-19,intractable inpatients in the hospital has steadily in-creased in number each year,while the diseases spectrum remains stable.The CMI of circulatory system,respiratory system,and nervous system diseases is relatively high.As key tricky components of internal medicine,these sub-specialties should concentrate on enhancing diagnostic and treatment capabilities as well as service quality to offer improved healthcare services to the public.

Objective:To explore the value of quantitative parameters of enhanced MRI in predicting the establishment of inferior vena cava collateral circulation in patients with renal cell carcinoma and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus.Methods:Sixty-seven patients with renal cell carcinoma and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus who underwent radical resection and inferior vena cava venography in First Medical Center, PLA General Hospital from May 2006 to January 2021 were included retrospectively. According to the results of inferior vena cava venography, the patients were divided into two groups: the well-established collateral circulation group ( n=41) and the poor-established collateral circulation group ( n=26). Quantitative parameters were measured on preoperative enhanced MRI images, including tumor size, the maximum diameter of bilateral lumbar veins, the length of tumor thrombus, and the long and short diameters of tumor thrombus. Student′s t test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between the two groups. The independent risk factors related to the establishment of collateral circulation were obtained by binary logistic regression analysis and the model was established. The receiver operating characteristic curve was employed to evaluate MRI quantitative parameters and the logistic model, and the area under the curve (AUC) was compared by the DeLong test. Results:Between the well-established collateral circulation group and the poor-established collateral circulation group, the maximum diameter of the right lumbar vein, the maximum diameter of the left lumbar vein, the length of the tumor thrombus, the long diameter of the tumor thrombus, and the short diameter of the tumor thrombus were different significantly ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the tumor size between the two groups ( t=0.30, P=0.766). The AUC of the maximum diameters of the right lumbar veins and left lumbar veins, length of tumor thrombus, long and short diameters of tumor thrombus in predicting the collateral circulation were 0.917 (95%CI 0.824-0.971), 0.869 (95%CI 0.764-0.939), 0.756 (95%CI 0.636-0.853), 0.886 (95%CI 0.785-0.951), and 0.906 (95%CI 0.809-0.963). The AUC of the maximum diameter of the right lumbar vein and the short diameter of the tumor thrombus were larger than those of the length of the tumor thrombus, and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=2.25, 2.04, P=0.025, 0.041), but the AUC between other parameters had no significant difference ( P>0.05). The maximum diameter of the right lumbar vein (OR 24.210, 95%CI 2.845-205.998), the maximum diameter of the left lumbar vein (OR 20.973, 95%CI 2.359-186.490), and the length of the tumor thrombus (OR 23.006, 95%CI 2.952-179.309) were independent risk factors for predicting the establishment of inferior vena cava collateral circulation. The AUC of logistic model was 0.969 (95%CI 0.931-1.000). Conclusion:Quantitative parameters of tumor thrombus and lumbar vein based on enhanced MRI have a good ability in predicting the establishment of inferior vena cava collateral circulation in patients with renal cell carcinoma and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus. The maximum diameter of bilateral lumbar veins and the length of the tumor thrombus were independent risk factors for inferior vena cava collateral circulation.

Objective:To investigate the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the differential diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and non-diabetic renal disease (NDRD) among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods:A diagnostic test. In this prospective study, patients with T2DM who underwent both IVIM-DWI and renal biopsy at the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital between October 2017 and September 2021 were consecutively enrolled. IVIM-DWI parameters including perfusion fraction (f), pure diffusion coefficient (D), and pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*) were measured in the renal cortex, medulla, and parenchyma. Patients were divided into the DN group and NDRD group based on the renal biopsy results. IVIM-DWI parameters, clinical information, and diabetes-related biochemical indicators between the two groups were compared using Student′s t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. The correlation of IVIM-DWI parameters with diabetic nephropathy histological scores were analyzed using Spearman′s correlation analyzes. The diagnostic efficiency of IVIM-DWI parameters for distinguishing between DN and NDRD were assessed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results:A total of 27 DN patients and 23 NDRD patients were included in this study. The DN group comprised 19 male and 8 female patients, with an average age of 52±9 years. The NDRD group comprised 16 male and 7 female patients, with an average age of 49±10 years. The DN group had a higher D* value in the renal cortex and a lower f value in the renal medulla than the NDRD group (9.84×10 -3 mm 2/s vs. 7.35×10 -3 mm 2/s, Z=-3.65; 41.01% vs. 46.74%, Z=-2.29; all P<0.05). The renal medulla D* value was negatively correlated with DN grades, interstitial lesion score, and interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) score ( r=-0.571, -0.409, -0.409; all P<0.05) while the renal cortex f value was positively correlated with vascular sclerosis score ( r=0.413, P=0.032). The renal cortex D* value had the highest area under the curve (AUC) for discriminating between the DN and NDRD groups (AUC=0.802, sensitivity 91.3%, specificity 55.6%). Conclusion:IVIM-derived renal cortex D* value can be used non-invasively to differentiate DN from NDRD in patients with T2DM that can potentially facilitate individualized treatment planning for diabetic patients.

Objective:To evaluate the test-retest reliability of MRI criteria in the 2019 Bosniak classification of cystic renal masses (CRMs) and to analyze the impact of lesions′ property, size and readers′ experience on the test-retest reliability.Methods:From January 2009 to June 2019, 207 patients with 207 CRMs were included in this retrospective study. All of them underwent renal MRI and surgical-pathologic examination. According to Bosniak classification, version 2019, all CRMs were independently classified twice by eight radiologists with different levels of experience. All radiologists were blinded to the pathology of the lesions. By using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), test-retest reliability was evaluated for all CRMs and for subgroups with different pathological properties (benign and malignant) and different sizes (≤40 mm and>40 mm). The test-retest reliability of 4 senior readers (≥10 years of experience) and 4 junior readers (<10 years of experience) were evaluated respectively. The comparison of ICC was performed using Z test. Results:The 207 CRMs included 111 benign lesions (83 benign cysts, 28 benign tumors) and 96 malignant tumors. There were 87 lesions with maximum diameter ≤40 mm and 120 with maximum diameter>40 mm. The test-retest reliability (ICC) of each reader for all lesions was 0.776-0.888, the overall ICC was 0.848 (95%CI 0.821-0.872). The ICCs of senior and junior readers were 0.853 (95%CI 0.824-0.880) and 0.843 (95%CI 0.811-0.871) respectively, without significant difference between the two groups ( Z=0.85, P=0.374). The ICC of all readers was 0.827 for benign lesions and 0.654 for malignant lesions, showing significant difference ( Z=2.80, P=0.005). The ICC was 0.770 for lesions ≤40 mm and 0.876 for lesions>40 mm, which was significantly different ( Z=-2.36, P=0.018). For CRM subgroups with different pathological properties and different sizes, there was no significant difference in test-retest reliability between senior and junior readers (all P>0.05). Conclusion:The test-retest reliability of MRI criteria in the 2019 Bosniak classification of CRMs is excellent and unaffected by readers′ experience. The reliabilities are not consistent among CRMs of different pathological properties and different sizes, but all reached the level of good and above.

Objective: To study convention MRI compared with conventional MRI combined with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the evaluation of T-staging of gallbladder carcinoma, and to determine the relationship between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and histological grading. Methods: Fifty-one patients with gallbladder carcinoma confirmed by surgery and pathology were enrolled into this study. The T-staging was performed according to conventional MRI or with conventional MRI combined with DWI and the results were compared with pathological studies. Results: The ADC value of tumor was measured to determine the correlation with T staging, pTNM staging and pathological tumor differentiation. For conventional MRI, the T-staging rate was 84.3%, which was consistent with the pathological T scoring (Kappa value 0.7580). After DWI, the T staging coincidence rate was 92.2% and the Kappa value was 0.8813. A comparison between conventional MRI versus conventional MRI combined with DWI T-staging compliance rates was performed using the Chi-square test (χ²=1.5111, P>0.05). The ADC values correlated with the T-staging, pTNM staging, and pathological tumor differentiation (r=-0.672, -0.749, 0.707, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusions Conventional MRI helped in the diagnoses of T-staging in gallbladder cancer. MRI combined with DWI helped to improve the coincidence rate of T-staging. The ADC values correlated with the T-staging, pTNM staging, and pathological tumor differentiation. Conventional MRI combined with DWI better evaluated the T-staging of gallbladder cancer, and could better guide the choice of treatment methods.

Objective To summarize the preliminary clinical outcomes of combination therapy with molecular targeted agents/immunological agents and to explore the potential value of multidisciplinary therapy in the treatment of postoperative refractory recurrent hepatobiliary tumor.Methods 52 cases of postoperative refractory recurrent hepatobiliary tumor during June 2016 to January 2019 from outpatient and inpatient departments at the First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital were prospectively collected,including 37 males and 15 females,with a mean age of (56.2 ± 8.5) years.Referring to the results of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and other-omics,we designed individualized therapy options for each patient.Follow-ups were done regularly and tumor responses were assessed by modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST).Results Of 52 patients,median follow-up was 10 months (range 3-31 months).14 (26.9％) patients achieved a complete response (CR).8 (15.3％) patients achieved a partial response (PR).14 (26.9％) patients had stable disease (SD).16 (30.8％,including 4 deaths) had progressive disease (PD).Objective response rate and disease control rate were 42.3％ (22/52) and 69.2％ (36/52),respectively.The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7 months.6-and 12-month overall survival rates were 100％ (48/48),87.5％ (21/24),respectively.Conclusions Precision medicine has good guidance on the treatment of refractory recurrence of hepatobiliary tumors.The combination therapy of multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors may achieve better disease control and deserve further promotion in clinical application.