1.Ethical reflections on the clinical application of medical artificial intelligence
Fangfang CUI ; Zhonglin LI ; Xianying HE ; Wenchao WANG ; Yuntian CHU ; Xiaobing SHI ; Jie ZHAO
Chinese Medical Ethics 2025;38(2):159-165
Medical artificial intelligence (AI) is a new type of application formed by the combination of machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and other technologies with clinical medical treatment. With the continuous iteration and development of relevant technologies, medical AI has shown great potential in improving the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment, and service quality, but it also increases the possibility of triggering ethical issues. Ethical issues resulting from the clinical application of medical AI were analyzed, including the lack of algorithmic interpretability and transparency of medical AI, leading to information asymmetry and cognitive discrepancies; the concerning status of security and privacy protection of medical data; and the complex and unclear division of responsibilities due to the collaborative participation of multiple subjects in the clinical application of medical AI, resulting in increased difficulty in the identification of medical accidents and clarification of responsibilities. The paper proposed the principles of not harming patients’ interests, physician’s subjectivity, fairness and inclusiveness, and rapid response. It also explored the strategies and implementation paths for responding to the ethical issues of medical AI from multiple perspectives, including standardizing the environment and processes, clarifying responsibility attribution, continuously assessing the impact of data protection, guaranteeing data security, ensuring model transparency and interpretability, carrying out multi-subject collaboration, as well as the principles of being driven by ethical values and adhering to the “human health-centeredness.” It aimed to provide guidance for the healthy development of medical AI, ensuring technological progress while effectively managing and mitigating accompanying ethical risks, thereby promoting the benign development of medical AI technology and better serving the healthcare industry and patients.
2.Research progress of antifungal drugs from natural sources
Shao-jie CHU ; Yan ZHENG ; Shuang-shuang SU ; Xue-song WU ; Hong YAN ; Shao-xin CHEN ; Hong-bo WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):48-57
As the number of patients with compromised immune function increases and fungal resistance develops, so does the risk of contracting deadly fungi in humans. Both fungi and humans are eukaryotes, so identifying unique targets for antifungal drug development is difficult. In addition, the existing antifungal drugs are limited by toxicity, drug interaction and drug resistance in practical application, which leads to the increasing incidence and fatal rate of fungal infections. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new antifungal drugs. The semi-synthetic technology using microbial fermentation products from natural sources as lead compounds has become the most used method in structural modification of antifungal drugs due to its advantages of few reaction steps and easy operation. This paper will introduce the current status of natural antifungal drugs in clinical use, as well as the latest progress in the research and development of new semi-synthetic antifungal drugs, and summarize their mechanism of action, structural modifications, advantages and disadvantages, so as to provide reference for the subsequent development of new antifungal drugs.
3.Predicting Postoperative Motor Function in High-risk Glioma Based on The Morphology Change of Motor Fiber Tracts
Qiang MA ; Song-Lin YU ; Chu-Yue ZHAO ; Xi-Jie WANG ; Song LIN ; Zhen-Tao ZUO ; Tao YU
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(4):1018-1026
ObjectiveGliomas in the motor functional area can damage the corticospinal tract (CST), leading to motor dysfunction. Currently, there is a lack of unified methods for evaluating the extent of CST damage, especially in patients with high surgical risk where the minimum distance from the lesion to the CST is less than 10 mm. This study aims to further clarify the classification method and clinical significance of CST morphological changes in these patients. MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed 109 high-risk functional area glioma patients who underwent neurosurgical treatment with preoperative diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) imaging and intraoperative neurostimulation guidance between 2014 and 2024. All patients had a lesion-to-tract distance (LTD) of less than 10 mm between the CST and the lesion. Preoperative DTI evaluation of CST involvement-induced morphological changes were reviewed. Patients were divided into 3 groups: 17 cases (15.6%) with symmetric CST morphology compared to the healthy side (CST symmetry), 48 cases (44.0%) with significant CST morphology changes compared to the healthy side (CST deformation), and 44 cases (40.4%) with CST overlap with the tumor (CST overlap). Then we classified patients according to preoperative assessment of tumor-induced morphological changes, and analyze postoperative motor function for each category. ResultsPostoperative pathology showed a significantly higher proportion of high-grade gliomas (HGG) in the CST overlap group compared to the other two groups (P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that CST overlap was a predictor of HGG (P=0.000). The rate of total tumor resection in the CST deformation group and overlap group was lower than in the CST symmetric group (P=0.008). There was a total of 41 postoperative hemiplegic patients, with 4 cases (23.5%) in the CST symmetric group, 11 cases (22.9%) in the CST deformation group, and 26 cases (59.1%) in the CST overlap group. CST overlap with the tumor predicted postoperative hemiplegia (P=0.016). Two-way ANOVA analysis of the affected/healthy side and CST morphology groups showed significant main effects of CST grouping and healthy-affected side (P=0.017 and P=0.010), with no significant interaction (P=0.31). The fractional anisotropy (FA) value in the CST overlap group and the affected side was lower. A decrease in the FA value on the affected side predicted postoperative hemiplegia (sensitivity 69.2%, specificity 71.9%). ConclusionWe have established a method to predict postoperative hemiplegia in high-risk motor functional area glioma patients based on preoperative CST morphological changes. CST overlap leads to a decrease in CST FA values. This method can be used for precise patient management and aid in accurate preoperative surgical planning.
4.Novel Strategies to Transform Breast Cancer From “Cold Tumor” to “Hot Tumor”
Kai YANG ; Jiahui CHU ; Jie MEI ; Yongmei YIN
Cancer Research on Prevention and Treatment 2025;52(6):442-447
Immunotherapy represents the third revolution in the pharmacological treatment of tumors and has demonstrated considerable efficacy in the management of malignant solid tumors, including melanoma and lung cancer. By contrast, breast cancer is frequently categorized as a “cold tumor” because of its limited immunogenicity and immunoreactivity, which hinder research progress and clinical outcomes in immunotherapy. Only a small proportion of patients derive benefits from immunotherapeutic interventions, and the development of drug resistance remains a concern. In this regard, novel strategies should be explored for converting immunologically inert “cold tumors” into immunologically active “hot tumors”, thereby expanding the population that will benefit from breast cancer immunotherapy. This study reviews new strategies to transform breast cancer from “cold tumor” to “hot tumor”. Strategies include enhancing the expression of tumor antigens, promoting immune infiltration, and reversing the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Results also emphasize the importance of comprehensive treatment to enhance systemic immunity.
5.Trends in incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in Nantong City from 2013 to 2022
CHEN Mingrui ; LIN Ling ; CHU Chu ; HUANG Jie ; HAN Yarong ; CAI Bo ; HAN Yingying
Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;37(10):1039-1044
Objective:
To investigate trends in incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province from 2013 to 2022.
Methods:
Data on incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer from 2013 to 2022 in Nantong City were collected through the Nantong City cancer registry. The crude incidence, crude mortality, average age at onset, and average age at death of colorectal cancer were calculated. Chinese population-standardized incidence, Chinese population-standardized mortality, Chinese population-standardized average age at onset and Chinese population-standardized average age at death were calculated using the age structure of the standard population from the Fifth National Population Census in 2000. Trends in incidence and mortality of lung cancer from 2013 to 2022 were evaluated using average annual percent change (AAPC). Trends in the Chinese population-standardized average age at onset and Chinese population-standardized average age at death of lung cancer from 2013 to 2022 were evaluated using the linear regression model.
Results:
From 2013 to 2022, the crude incidence and Chinese population-standardized incidence of colorectal cancer in Nantong City increased from 33.63/105 and 16.05/105 to 53.82/105 and 19.62/105, respectively, showing upward trends (AAPC=5.665% and 2.467%, both P<0.05). The crude mortality increased from 15.99/105 in 2013 to 25.65/105 in 2022, also showing an upward trend (AAPC=5.514%, P<0.05), while no statistically significant trend was found in the Chinese population-standardized mortality (P>0.05). The Chinese population-standardized incidence of colorectal cancer showed upward trends in both males and females (AAPC=2.666% and 1.790%, both P<0.05). The Chinese population-standardized mortality showed an upward trend in males (AAPC=1.966%, P<0.05), but no statistically significant trend was found in females (P>0.05). The crude incidence of colorectal cancer in the groups aged 40-<50 years, 50-<60 years, 60-<70 years, 70-<80 years, and ≥80 years showed upward trends (AAPC=4.045%, 2.833%, 2.300%, 1.948%, and 1.775%, all P<0.05), and the crude mortality in the group aged ≥80 years showed an upward trend (AAPC=3.240%, P<0.05). The average age at onset of colorectal cancer increased at an annual average of 0.156 years (P<0.05), while the trend in the Chinese population-standardized average age at onset was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The average age at death and the Chinese population-standardized average age at death increased at an annual average of 0.325 and 0.153 years, respectively (both P<0.05).
Conclusions
From 2013 to 2022, both the crude incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in Nantong City showed upward trends. Males and individuals aged ≥40 years faced a higher risk of both incidence and mortality. It is recommended to implement comprehensive prevention and control measures targeting these high-risk populations to reduce the burden of colorectal cancer.
6.Effect of severe weather on road traffic injuries:a meta-analysis
Yinlu LI ; Minglei XYU ; Zilong LU ; Zehan ZHANG ; Jing DONG ; Jie REN ; Wengui ZHENG ; Xiaolei GUO ; Jie CHU
Journal of Public Health and Preventive Medicine 2024;35(1):24-28
Objective To explore the impact of severe weather on road traffic injuries (RTIs). Methods Relevant literature on the impact of meteorology on the occurrence and resulting casualties of road traffic injuries was searched. Meta-analysis was performed on the included literature using state16.0 software. Results A total of 28 articles were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that heat wave, cloudy day, snowy day, rainy day and other severe weather such as storm had a statistically significant impact on the occurrence of road traffic injuries. Severe weather such as storms had a statistically significant impact on RTIs casualties. Conclusion Heat wave, cloudy day, snowy day, rainy day, storm and other bad weather are independent risk factors for the occurrence of RTIs. Storm is a risk factor for accident casualties. There is not enough evidence to show that low temperature, cold wave and heavy fog are the influencing factors of road traffic accidents.
7.Research on Automatic Microalgae Detection System Based on Deep Learning
Rui-Jie XIANG ; Hao LIU ; Zhen LU ; Ze-Yu XIAO ; Hai-Peng LIU ; Yin-Chu WANG ; Xiao PENG ; Wei YAN
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024;51(1):177-189
ObjectiveThe scale of microalgae farming industry is huge. During farming, it is easy for microalgae to be affected by miscellaneous bacteria and other contaminants. Because of that, periodic test is necessary to ensure the growth of microalgae. Present microscopy imaging and spectral analysis methods have higher requirements for experiment personnel, equipment and sites, for which it is unable to achieve real-time portable detection. For the purpose of real-time portable microalgae detection, a real-time microalgae detection system of low detection requirement and fast detection speed is needed. MethodsThis study has developed a microalgae detection system based on deep learning. A microscopy imaging device based on bright field was constructed. With imaged captured from the device, a neural network based on YOLOv3 was trained and deployed on microcomputer, thus realizing real-time portable microalgae detection. This study has also improved the feature extraction network by introducing cross-region residual connection and attention mechanism and replacing optimizer with Adam optimizer using multistage and multimethod strategy. ResultsWith cross-region residual connection, the mAP value reached 0.92. Compared with manual result, the detection error was 2.47%. ConclusionThe system could achieve real-time portable microalgae detection and provide relatively accurate detection result, so it can be applied to periodic test in microalgae farming.
8.Relationship between serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels and cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction
Lifang CHU ; Jie YAO ; Qian ZHU
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2024;45(3):353-357
Objective To investigate the relationship between serum levels of thrombospondin-1(TSP-1)and thioredoxin 1(Trx1)and cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction.Methods A total of 155 patients with cerebral infarction(study group)admitted to a hospital from June 2021 to December 2022 were selected as the study objects,and were divided into normal cognitive function group(97 cases)and cognitive impair-ment group(58 cases)according to the scores of the montreal cognitive assessment scale(MoCA)after the pa-tients'condition stabilized.Another 150 healthy subjects in the same period were selected as the control group.Serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Spearman analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels and national in-stitutes of health stroke scale(NIHSS)score and MoCA score in patients with cerebral infarction.The predic-tive value of serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels in cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Compared with the control group,the levels of serum TSP-1 and Trx1 in the study group were significantly higher,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared with the normal cognitive function group,the levels of serum TSP-1 and Trx1 in the cognitive impairment group were significantly higher,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared with the normal cognitive function group,the NIHSS score of the cognitive impairment group was significantly higher,and the MoCA score was significantly lower,with statistical significance(P<0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels were positively correlated with NIHSS score(P<0.05),and negatively correlated with MoCA score(P<0.05)in patients with cerebral infarction.ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve(AUC)of serum TSP-1 to predict cogni-tive impairment after cerebral infarction was 0.834,and the sensitivity and specificity were 72.41%and 86.60%,respectively.Serum Trx1 level alone predicted the AUC of cognitive impairment after cerebral infarc-tion was 0.851,and its sensitivity and specificity were 70.69%and 85.57%,respectively.The AUC of the combined prediction of cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction was 0.926,which was significantly greater than that of serum TSP-1 alone(Z=3.050,P=0.002)and Trx1 alone(Z=2.846,P=0.004).Conclusion Serum TSP-1 and Trx1 levels are elevated in patients with cerebral infarction,and their levels have certain predictive value for cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction.
9.Zoledronic acid affects osteogenic differentiation and bone formation by regulating the expression of SIRT3/P53
Jie HAN ; Letian QIAO ; Xiaoyi WANG ; Huihui CHEN ; Naying CHU ; Peili CHEN
Chinese Journal of Endocrine Surgery 2024;18(1):130-137
Objective:To explore the mechanism of zoledronic acid (ZOL) affects osteogenic differentiation and bone formation through the regulation of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) / P53 expression.Methods:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were induced to differentiate into osteogenic cells, the expression of SIRT3 in the cells was detected, and the targeting regulation relationship between SIRT3 and P53 was analyzed. The intracellular expressions of SIRT3 and P53 were intervened and ZOL was used to treat the cells. MTT method, Western blot method and kit were used to detect cell viability, osteogenesis-related genes Osteoprotegerin (OPG), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) expression, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and alizarin red S (ARS) staining, respectively. Ovariectomy (OVX) was used to construct a rat model and explore the effect of ZOL on the progression of osteoporosis (OP) in vivo.Results:ZOL promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The expression of SIRT3 was down-regulated in the serum of OP patients (0.78±0.23) compared with that of healthy subjects (1.00±0.26 vs. 0.78±0.23. t=3.85, P<0.001). During the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, the expression level of SIRT3 gradually increased with the prolonged induction of osteogenesis. Compared with the p53 protein expression and BMSCs activity in the control group, SIRT3 knockout could increase the expression level of p53 protein (0.59±0.05 vs. 1.01±0.11. t=6.02, P=0.004) but inhibited the activity of BMSCs (100.00±8.41 vs. 51.26±5.59. t=8.36, P=0.001). After ZOL treatment, the inhibitory effect of SIRT3 on cell viability (49.61±5.11 vs. 87.61±7.31. t=7.38, P=0.002) and osteogenesis was relieved, and the level of P53 was inhibited (1.10±0.10 vs. 0.69±0.04. t=6.59, P=0.003). P53 overexpression partially offseted the effects of ZOL on cell viability (84.61±6.52 vs. 66.54±5.47. t=3.68, P=0.021) and osteogenesis. Compared with the sham surgery group, the OVX group showed inhibition of osteogenesis in rats, and ZOL treatment significantly improved osteogenic inhibition. ZOL treatment increased the expression level of SIRT3 protein in bone tissue of OVX rats, but inhibited the expression level of P53. Conclusion:ZOL promoted osteogenic differentiation and bone formation of BMSCs by promoting the ubiquitination and degradation of P53 by SIRT3.
10.Clinical guidelines for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combined with lower cervical fracture in adults (version 2024)
Qingde WANG ; Yuan HE ; Bohua CHEN ; Tongwei CHU ; Jinpeng DU ; Jian DONG ; Haoyu FENG ; Shunwu FAN ; Shiqing FENG ; Yanzheng GAO ; Zhong GUAN ; Hua GUO ; Yong HAI ; Lijun HE ; Dianming JIANG ; Jianyuan JIANG ; Bin LIN ; Bin LIU ; Baoge LIU ; Chunde LI ; Fang LI ; Feng LI ; Guohua LYU ; Li LI ; Qi LIAO ; Weishi LI ; Xiaoguang LIU ; Hongjian LIU ; Yong LIU ; Zhongjun LIU ; Shibao LU ; Yong QIU ; Limin RONG ; Yong SHEN ; Huiyong SHEN ; Jun SHU ; Yueming SONG ; Tiansheng SUN ; Yan WANG ; Zhe WANG ; Zheng WANG ; Hong XIA ; Guoyong YIN ; Jinglong YAN ; Wen YUAN ; Zhaoming YE ; Jie ZHAO ; Jianguo ZHANG ; Yue ZHU ; Yingjie ZHOU ; Zhongmin ZHANG ; Wei MEI ; Dingjun HAO ; Baorong HE
Chinese Journal of Trauma 2024;40(2):97-106
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with lower cervical fracture is often categorized into unstable fracture, with a high incidence of neurological injury and a high rate of disability and morbidity. As factors such as shoulder occlusion may affect the accuracy of X-ray imaging diagnosis, it is often easily misdiagnosed at the primary diagnosis. Non-operative treatment has complications such as bone nonunion and the possibility of secondary neurological damage, while the timing, access and choice of surgical treatment are still controversial. Currently, there are no clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture with or without dislocation. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate Clinical guidelines for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combined with lower cervical fracture in adults ( version 2024) in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine, scientificity and practicality, in which 11 recommendations were put forward in terms of the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, typing and treatment, etc, to provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture.


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