Objective:To investigate improvement effect of astragalus polysaccharides(APS)on recurrent spontaneous abor-tion(RSA)in rats and its mechanism.Methods:Pregnant rats were randomly grouped into control group,RSA group,dexamethasone group,APS low,medium,high doses groups and LY294002 group.A RSA rat model was constructed,uterine organ index and embryo loss rate were calculated.HE staining was applied to observe histopathology changes of decidua.ELISA was applied to detect serum levels of estradiol(E2),progesterone(P),prolactin(PRL),cytokines such as IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-4 and IL-10.Immunohisto-chemistry was applied to detect expression of decidua progesterone receptor(PR).Western blot was applied to detect expression of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway proteins of decidua.Results:Compared with control group,desquamated cells of rats in RSA group exhibit edema,disordered arrangement,nuclear pyknosis and disappearance,and decidua reduced interstitial blood vessels,uterine organ index,serum IL-4,IL-10,E2,P,PRL levels,decidua PR,p-PI3K,p-AKT expressions were obviously reduced,embryo loss rate,IFN-γ and TNF-α levels were obviously increased(P<0.05);compared with RSA group,morphology of decidual cells and interstitial blood vessels in dexamethasone group and APS low,medium and high doses groups were improved,uterine organ index,serum IL-4,IL-10,E2,P,PRL levels,decidua PR,p-PI3K,p-AKT expressions were obviously increased,embryo loss rate,serum IFN-γ and TNF-α levels were obviously reduced(P<0.05);LY294002 reversed improvement effect of high-dose APS on adverse pregnancy out-comes in RSA rats(P<0.05).Conclusion:APS can reduce miscarriage rate of RSA rats,regulate Th1/Th2 balance,whose mecha-nism may be related to activation of PI3K/AKT.

Objective:To investigate improvement effect of astragalus polysaccharides(APS)on recurrent spontaneous abor-tion(RSA)in rats and its mechanism.Methods:Pregnant rats were randomly grouped into control group,RSA group,dexamethasone group,APS low,medium,high doses groups and LY294002 group.A RSA rat model was constructed,uterine organ index and embryo loss rate were calculated.HE staining was applied to observe histopathology changes of decidua.ELISA was applied to detect serum levels of estradiol(E2),progesterone(P),prolactin(PRL),cytokines such as IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-4 and IL-10.Immunohisto-chemistry was applied to detect expression of decidua progesterone receptor(PR).Western blot was applied to detect expression of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway proteins of decidua.Results:Compared with control group,desquamated cells of rats in RSA group exhibit edema,disordered arrangement,nuclear pyknosis and disappearance,and decidua reduced interstitial blood vessels,uterine organ index,serum IL-4,IL-10,E2,P,PRL levels,decidua PR,p-PI3K,p-AKT expressions were obviously reduced,embryo loss rate,IFN-γ and TNF-α levels were obviously increased(P<0.05);compared with RSA group,morphology of decidual cells and interstitial blood vessels in dexamethasone group and APS low,medium and high doses groups were improved,uterine organ index,serum IL-4,IL-10,E2,P,PRL levels,decidua PR,p-PI3K,p-AKT expressions were obviously increased,embryo loss rate,serum IFN-γ and TNF-α levels were obviously reduced(P<0.05);LY294002 reversed improvement effect of high-dose APS on adverse pregnancy out-comes in RSA rats(P<0.05).Conclusion:APS can reduce miscarriage rate of RSA rats,regulate Th1/Th2 balance,whose mecha-nism may be related to activation of PI3K/AKT.

Rare diseases have been a major challenge for clinical medicine and public health challenge in China. One of the effective measures is to conduct proactive research on rare diseases to deal with the disease burden of the diseases. However, low prevalence, disperse distribution of patients, lack of knowledge about the disease course, and phenotype heterogeneity hamper the development of research for rare diseases. Recently, it has been found that patients registry is effective in understanding the course of the disease and accu- mulating the cases and data of clinical research or clinical trial design. At present, most of developed countries or regions in the world have promoted clinical research and clinical trials of new medications on rare diseases by using the registration of rare disease. In 2016, Peking Union Medical College Hospital established China's first registry system at the national level-National Rare Disease Registry System of China(NRDRS). NRDRS has accumulated 68 137 cases data registered by the researchers from China's 101 collaborating hospitals in 29 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions, covering 171 different, and forming 188 cohorts. To date, NRDRS complete the initial stage of resources buildup.Nex stage will be focused on clinical research and clinical trials related to rare diseases based on NRDRS. This article is on the process of building NRDRS, the potential support for conducting clinical research and clinical trials related to rare diseases, and the challenges will be faced.

Objective:To investigate the influencing factors for lymph node metastasis and prognosis in stage T1 and T2 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after radical surgery and construct nomogram prediction models.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinico-pathological data of 672 patients with T1 and T2 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from January 2014 to December 2019 were collected. There were 464 males and 208 females, aged (65±8)years. All patients under-went radical esophagectomy+2 or 3 field lymph node dissection. Observation indicators: (1) lymph node dissection, metastasis and follow-up. (2) risk factors for lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer after radical resection. (3) prognostic factors of esophageal cancer after radical resection. (4) construction and evaluation of the prediction models of lymph node metastasis and prognosis of esophageal cancer after radical resection. Follow-up was conducted using outpatient examination, telephone and internet consultations to detect survival of patients up to April 2021. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate and draw survival curve. Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Logistic regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses of risk for lymph node metastasis, and COX regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses of prognosis. Based on the results of multi-variate analysis, the nomogram prediction models for lymph node metastasis and prognosis predic-tion were constructed. The prediction discrimination of the nomogram models were evaluated using the area under curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). The calibration curve was used to evaluate the prediction consistency of the models. Results:(1) Lymph node dissection, metastasis and follow-up. The number of lymph node dissected was 14±8 and the number of lymph node metastasis was 2(range, 1?19) in 672 patients. Of the 672 patients, there were 182 cases had lymph node metastasis, including 58 cases in T1 stage and 124 cases in T2 stage. All 672 patients were followed up for 38 (range, 1?85)months. The average overall survival time of 672 patients was 65 months, with the 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate as 89.0%, 74.3%, 66.0%, respectively. The average overall survival time of 325 patients in T1 stage and 347 patients in T2 stage were 70 months and 61 months. The 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate of 325 patients in T1 stage and 347 patients in T2 stage were 95.0%, 83.5%, 73.4% and 87.4%, 69.9%, 59.2%, respectively, showing a significant difference in survival between them ( χ2=14.51, P<0.05). (2) Risk factors for lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer after radical resection. Results of univariate analysis showed that tumor location, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging were related factors affecting lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer after radical resection ( odds ratio=1.40, 1.54, 2.56, 95% confidence interval as 1.07?1.85, 1.20?1.99, 1.79-3.67, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that tumor location, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging were independent factors affecting lymph node metastasis ( odds ratio=1.42, 1.61, 2.63, 95% confidence interval as 1.07?1.89, 1.25?2.09, 1.82?3.78, P<0.05). (3) Prognostic factors of esophageal cancer after radical resection. Results of univariate analysis showed that preoperative comorbidities, postoperative complications, tumor histological grade (G3), tumor T staging, tumor N staging (N1 stage, N2 stage, N3 stage), tumor TNM staging (Ⅲ stage, Ⅳ stage) were related factors affecting prognosis of esophageal cancer after radical resection ( hazard ratio= 1.48, 1.64, 2.23, 1.85, 2.09, 4.48, 4.97, 3.54, 5.53, 95% confidence interval as 1.08?2.03, 1.20?2.23, 1.47?3.39, 1.34?2.54, 1.44?3.04, 2.89?6.95, 1.57?15.73, 2.48?5.05, 1.73?17.68, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that preoperative comorbidities, G3 of tumor histological grade, T2 stage of tumor T staging, N1 stage, N2 stage, N3 stage of tumor N staging were independent risk factors affecting prognosis of esophageal cancer after radical resection ( hazard ratio=1.57, 1.89, 1.63, 1.71, 3.72, 3.90, 95% confidence interval as 1.14?2.16, 1.23?2.91, 1.17?2.26, 1.16?2.51, 2.37?5.83, 1.22?12.45, P<0.05). (4) Construction and evaluation of the prediction models of lymph node metastasis and prognosis of esophageal cancer after radical resection. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, tumor location, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging were applied to construct a nomo-gram model for lymph node metastasis prediction of esophageal cancer after radical resection, the score of tumor location, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging were 82, 100, 100, respectively, and the sum of the scores corresponding to the lymph node metastasis rate. Preoperative comor-bidity, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging, tumor N staging were applied to construct a nomo-gram model for 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate prediction of esophageal cancer after radical resection, the score of preoperative comorbidity, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging, tumor N staging were 23, 38, 27, 100, respectively, and the sum of the scores corres-ponding to the 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate. Results of ROC showed that the AUC of nomogram model for lymph node metastasis prediction after radical esophagectomy was 0.66 (95% confidence interval as 0.62?0.71, P<0.05). The AUC of nomogram model for 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate prediction after radical esophagectomy were 0.73, 0.74, 0.71 (95% confidence intervals as 0.66?0.80, 0.68?0.79, 0.65?0.78, P<0.05). Results of calibration curve showed that the predicted lymph node metastasis rate and the predicted 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate by nomogram models were consistent with the actual lymph node metastasis rate and 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival rate. Conclusions:Tumor location, tumor histological grade, tumor T staging are independent factors affecting lymph node metastasis in T1 and T2 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after radical surgery and nomogram model constructed by these indicators can predict the lymph node metas-tasis rate. Preoperative comor-bidities, G3 of tumor histological grade, T2 stage of tumor T staging, N1 stage, N2 stage, N3 stage of tumor N staging are independent risk factors affecting prognosis and nomogram model constructed by these indicators can predict the overall survival rate of patients after surgery.

Objective: To observe and compare the effects of two standards on the overweight trend in urban Shanghai infants and young children. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 19 communities in two districts of Shanghai, and the subjects (n=15 019) were divided into S-group and W-group by sealed envelope randomization. The subjects were newborns born between November 2013 and December 2014. The 2005 Shanghai growth standard was applied in the S-group and the 2006 WHO growth standard was used in the W-group. At each follow-up time point age of 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months, the outpatient physician assessed the length and weight of the infants according to the standard adopted by each group and provided feeding guidance. The weight-for-age Z scores (WAZ), length-for-age Z scores (LAZ) and weight-for-length Z scores (WLZ) were calculated according to the WHO standard. Weight, length, WAZ, LAZ, WLZ and overweight ratio (WLZ≥2) were compared between the two groups using t test, Wilcoxon test and χ² test. Results: A total of 6 509 infants (3 391 were boys, 3 118 were girls) were in the W-group, and 8 510 infants (4 374 were boys, 4 136 were girls) were in the S-group. Among the boys, the weight values at the age of 4, 6, 9, 12, 18 months in the W-group were all lower than those in the S-group ((7.5±0.8) vs. (7.7±0.8) kg, (8.6±0.8) vs. (8.7±0.8) kg, (9.6±0.9) vs. (9.7±0.9) kg, (10.4±1.0) vs. (10.5±1.0) kg, (11.5±1.1) vs.(11.7±1.1) kg; t=4.329, 2.422, 3.739, 2.451, 2.736; P<0.01, 0.015,<0.01, 0.014, 0.009). The length had no significant difference between two groups at all months of age(all P>0.05). The overweight ratio in the W-group was lower than that in the S-group at the age of 9, 12, 18 months(3.3% (71/2 170) vs. 4.9% (143/2 927), 2.5% (51/2 037) vs. 4.5% (126/2 818), 0.8% (7/832) vs. 3.1% (39/1 266); χ²=6.520, 14.209, 12.350; P=0.011,<0.01,<0.01).Among the girls, except at the age of 2 months (W-group (5.6±0.6) vs. S-group (5.7±0.6), t=2.935, P=0.003), weight values had no significant difference between the two groups at other age months (all P>0.05).The length in the W-group was higher than that in the S-group at 12 and 18 months of age ((75.6±2.4) vs.(75.5±2.3)cm, (82.4±2.9) vs.(82.2±2.7) cm; t=2.351, 2.197; P=0.019, 0.028). The ratio of overweight in the W-group was lower than that of S-group at the age of 12 and 18 months (1.8% (33/1 871) vs.3.0% (80/2 658), 0.6% (5/790) vs.1.7% (20/1 178); χ²=6.764,4.276; P=0.009, 0.039). Conclusions The application of WHO growth standard can help to reduce the weight gain rate of boys, promote the linear growth of girls, and thus alleviate the overweight trend of infants within 18 months. It suggested that 2006 WHO growth standard should be applied to infants within 1 year of age in Shanghai.

Objective To explore the role of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in vascular endothelial cells dysfunction induced by sodium arsenite (NaAsO2).Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (EA.Hy926 cells) were treated with different levels of NaAsO2 [0 (control),1,2,5,10,20,50 μmol/L] for 24 hours.The cell viability was determined using CCK8.Colorimetric assay was used to detect the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in culture supematants,PEDF content in the supematant of EA.Hy926 cells was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and nitric oxide (NO) content in cells was detected by flow cytometry.Results Compared with the control group [(101.08 ± 3.22)％],the cell viability of 20 μ mol/L group [(80.69 ± 7.95)％] and 50 μmol/L group [(69.87 ± 10.54)％] decreased significantly,and the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).The activity of iNOS increased significantly in 10,20,50 μmol/L groups [(829.1 ± 68.2),(772.3 ± 37.1),(874.6 ± 43.5) U/L],respectively,in comparison with that of the control group [(397.5 ± 43.5) U/L] in the cell culture supematant (P ＜ 0.01).Similarly,PEDF levels in the groups of 10,20,50 μmol/L [(12.06 ± 0.55),(11.97 ± 0.39) and (13.89 ± 0.26) mg/L respectively] were higher than that of the control group [(10.70 ± 0.35) mg/L,P ＜ 0.01],and the highest content of PEDF was found in 50 μmol/L group.The NO level in 50 μmol/L group (11 558.99 ± 397.43) was significantly lower than that of the control group (14 131.49± 262.61,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion PEDF is involved in the vascular endothelial cells dysfunction induced by arsenic.

Objective To investigate the clinical feature and antibiotic resistance profile of K.pneumoniae isolates from patients for better management of K.pneumoniae infections.Methods Nonduplicate K.pneumoniae strains were collected from January to December in 2015.K.pneumoniae strains were identified by VITEK 2-Compact 60 and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by KirbyBauer method.Results A total of 753 strains ofK.pneumoniae were included,most (40.9％,308/753) of which were isolated from sputum,followed by urine (18.2％,137/753).Most of the strains were from old patients at least 60 years of age (40.8％,307/753),and primarily from intensive care units (16.7％,126/753) and Department of Respiratory Medicine (13.7％,103/753).Respiratory tract infection was found in 144 patients,of which 71.5％ (103/144) were due to K.pneumoniae.More than half of the K.pneumoniae strains were resistant to piperacillin (66.3 ％),cefazolin (60.8 ％) and cefitroxime (59.4 ％).Only a few strain were resistant to imipenem (2.4 ％) and meropenem (2.0).ESBLs were produced in 410 (54.4 ％) of the 753 strains,and 29 (3.9 ％) strains were carbapenem-resistant,492 (65.3 ％) strains were resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents.Conclusions Clinical K.pneumoniae isolates are highly resistant to most of the antimicrobial agents tested.The strains were mostly isolated from sputum and urine,and positive for ESBLs.MDR K.pneumoniae sWains are emerging.K.pneumoniae isolates are still very susceptible to carbapenems in vitro.