Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) that causes oral mucosal tissue sclerosis, and even cancer transformation, is a chronic, progressive fibrosis disease. However, despite some advancements in recent years, no targeted antifibrotic strategies for OSF have been approved; likely because the complicated mechanisms that initiate and drive fibrosis remain to be determined. In this review, we briefly introduce the epidemiology and etiology of OSF. Then, we highlight how cell-intrinsic changes in significant structural cells can drive fibrotic response by regulating biological behaviors, secretion function, and activation of ECM-producing myofibroblasts. In addition, we also discuss the role of innate and adaptive immune cells and how they contribute to the pathogenesis of OSF. Finally, we summarize strategies to interrupt key mechanisms that cause OSF, including modulation of the ECM, inhibition of inflammation, improvement of vascular disturbance. This review will provide potential routes for developing novel anti-OSF therapeutics.
Humans ; Oral Submucous Fibrosis/immunology* ; Extracellular Matrix/metabolism* ; Myofibroblasts

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Rougan Jianpi therapy combined with Mesalazine enema in the treatment of distal ulcerative colitis (DUC) with Ganyu-Pixu syndrome.Methods:This study is a prospective parallel randomized controlled study. From November 2021 to May 2022, 115 patients with DUC in Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were selected and randomly divided into a control group of 58 patients and a study group of 57 patients. The control group was treated with Mesalazine enema, and the study group was treated with Rougan Jianpi Decoction on the basis of the control group. Both groups were treated for 8 weeks. The severity of the disease was evaluated by using the Modified Mayo Scale, and the clinical and endoscopic efficacy was evaluated based on the changes in the score before and after treatment. TCM syndromes were scored from four aspects: abdominal pain, diarrhea, mucopurulent bloody stool, Rectal tenesmus, and anal burning. The quality of life was evaluated by using the IBD Quality of Life Scale (IBDQ). The serum TNF-αand IL-10 level were detected by using ELISA method. The adverse reactions during treatment were observed and recorded.Results:The total effective rate of the study group was 91.23% (52/57), while that of the control group was 79.31% (46/58). The difference between the two groups was no statistically significant ( Z=1.47, P=0.143). The proportion of patients in the study group who achieved clinical response[40.35% (23/57) vs. 51.72% (30/58)] and clinical relief [59.65% (34/57) vs. 43.11% (25/58)] the total proportion were significantly higher than those in the control group [100.00% (57/57) vs. 94.83% (55/58); Z=1.97, P=0.049]. The proportion of patients with endoscopic response [52.63% (30/57) vs. 56.90% (33/58)] and mucosal healing [33.33% (19/57) vs. 17.24% (10/58)] the total proportion in the study group were significantly higher than those in the control group [85.96% (49/57) vs. 74.14% (43/58); Z=2.23, P=0.026]. after treatment, the IBDQ score [(194.3±15.1) vs. (172.6±18.4), t=6.90] in the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group. After treatment, the patient's TCM symptom score: mucopurulent bloody stool [(1.7±0.8) vs. (2.0±0.6), t=2.03], rectal tenesmus [(1.5±0.6) vs. (1.8±0.6), t=2.32] and anal burning [(1.3±0.6) vs. (1.6±0.7), t=2.38] in the control group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05). The level of IL-10 [(53.3±8.0) ng/L vs. (49.0±6.7) ng/L, t=3.10] in the study group after treatment was higher than that of the control group ( P<0.01), and TNF-α [(28.3±7.9)ng/L vs. (36.8±8.1)ng/L, t=3.58] was lower than that of the control group ( P<0.01). There were no significant adverse reactions observed during the treatment in both groups. Conclusion:Method of Rougan Jianpi combined with mesalazine enema can improve the clinical symptoms of DUC patients, improve clinical efficacy, and have good safety.

Background::Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are the key populations in neonatology, wherein morbidity and mortality remain major challenges. The study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of VLBW infants.Methods::A retrospective cohort study was conducted in West China Second Hospital between January 2016 and December 2021. Neonates with a birth weight of <1500 g were included. Mortality, care practices, and major morbidities were analyzed, and compared with those of previous 7 years (2009-2015).Results::Of the total 1750 VLBW, 1386 were infants born with birth weight between 1000-1499 g and 364 infants were born with weight below 1000 g; 42.9% (751/1750) required delivery room resuscitation; 53.9% (943/1750) received non-invasive ventilation only; 38.2% (669/1750) received invasive ventilation; 1517 VLBW infants received complete treatment. Among them, 60.1% (912/1517) of neonates had neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS), 28.7% (436/1517) had bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), 22.0% (334/1517) had apnea, 11.1% (169/1517) had culture-confirmed sepsis, 8.4% (128/1517) had pulmonary hemorrhage, 7.6% (116/1517) had severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)/periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), 5.7% (87/1517) had necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and 2.0% (31/1517) had severe retinopathy of prematurity. The total and in-hospital mortality rates were 9.7% (169/1750) and 3.0% (45/1517), respectively. The top three diagnoses of death among those who had received complete treatment were sepsis, NRDS, and NEC. In 2009-2015, 1146 VLBW were enrolled and 895 infants received complete treatment. The proportions of apnea, IVH, and IVH stage ≥3/PVL, were higher in 2009-2015 compared with those in 2016-2021, while the proportions of NRDS and BPD were characterized by significant increases in 2016-2021. The total and in-hospital mortality rates were 16.7% (191/1146) and 5.6% (50/895) respectively in 2009-2015.Conclusion::Among VLBW infants born in 2016-2021, the total and in-hospital mortality rates were lower than those of neonates born in 2009-2015. Incidences of NRDS and BPD increased in 2016-2021, which affected the survival rates and long-term prognosis of VLBW.

To investigate the recent prevalence and molecular epidemiological characteristics of por-cine diarrhea viruses in Sichuan Province,this study used fluorescence quantitative PCR to detect porcine diarrhea samples from multiple regions in Sichuan Province from 2021 to 2023.RT-PCR was used to identify the genotypes of PEDV,PoRVA,PDCoV,and PTV,and their genetic variabil-ity,evolutionary characteristics,and recombination events were analyzed.The results showed that PEDV,PoRVA,PDCoV,and PTV were still prevalent in Sichuan region,with overall positive rates of 14.2％(40/281),13.2％(37/281),15.6％(44/281),and 12.5％(35/281),respectively.PEDV mixed infection with other pathogens was the most common.This study obtained a total of six strains of G2b PEDV,three strains of G3 PDCoV,three strains of G9P[13]PoRVA,one strain of G3P[13]PoRVA,three strains of Type 5 PTV,and one strain of Type 9 PTV.Compared to the seven vaccine strains including CV777,DR13,KPEDV-9,Chinju99,KNU-0801,AJ1102,and LW/L,the 6 PEDV strains showed multiple amino acid mutation sites in the COE region and S1D epitope region.Among them,the strains PSCLZ01 and PSCMY04 formed a separate branch in the phylogenetic tree.The three PDCoV strains have a closer genetic evolution distance to the previ-ously prevalent strains in Sichuan,but they also have 6-48 amino acid mutations compared to them.The four PoRVA strains have 104-108 amino acid variations in the VP4 gene compared to the early vaccine strain LLR,and they have 25 common amino acid variations in the VP7 gene.From the phylogenetic tree,the VP7 gene of RSCMY01/G3P[13]belongs to the same branch as the Heilongjiang strain LNCY,but its VP4 gene clusters with the Sichuan strain SCYA-C7,indica-ting that this PoRVA strain may have undergone genetic reassortment during inter-provincial transmission between different genotypes.It is worth noting that in the detected samples of PTV-5 and PTV-9,other diarrheal viruses tested negative,indicating that these two genotypes of PTV may be important pathogens causing porcine diarrhea.Additionally,the S gene of PEDV PSCLZ01 strain and PDCoV PCSCMY02 strain have undergone recombination events,and their parental strains come from different regions,both domestic and international.These findings reveal the main types of porcine diarrheal viruses,as well as their genetic diversity and variations in Sichuan Province in recent years.This study enriches the molecular epidemiological data of porcine diarrhe-al pathogens in the region and provides an important theoretical basis for the prevention,control,and purification of porcine diarrhea in the local area.

BACKGROUND: Extreme temperature events, including extreme cold, are becoming more frequent worldwide, which might be harmful to pregnant women and cause adverse birth outcomes. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to low ambient temperature in pregnant women and adverse birth outcomes, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth, and to summarize the evidence herein. METHODS: Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase electronic databases until November 2021. Studies involving low ambient temperature, preterm birth, birth weight, and stillbirth were included. The guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses were followed to conduct this study risk of bias and methods for data synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 34 studies were included. First, pregnant women exposed to low ambient temperature had an increased risk of preterm birth (risk ratio [RR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.13). Subgroup analyses revealed that exposure during late pregnancy was more likely to induce preterm birth. In addition, only pregnant women exposed to <1st percentile of the mean temperature suffered increased risk of preterm birth. Moreover, pregnant women living in medium or hot areas were more prone to have preterm births than those in cold areas when exposed to low ambient temperatures. Asians and Blacks were more susceptible to low ambient temperatures than Caucasians. Second, pregnant women exposed to low ambient temperature had an increased risk of low birth weight (RR 1.07; 95% CI 1.03-1.12). Third, pregnant women had an increased risk of stillbirth while exposed to low ambient temperature during the entire pregnancy (RR 4.63; 95% CI 3.99-5.38). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to low ambient temperature during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse birth outcomes. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to extremely low ambient temperature (<1st percentile of the mean temperature), especially in their late pregnancy. This study could provide clues for preventing adverse outcomes from meteorological factors. REGISTRATION No. CRD42021259776 at PROSPERO ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ ).
Pregnancy ; Infant, Newborn ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Premature Birth/epidemiology* ; Stillbirth/epidemiology* ; Temperature ; Pregnancy Complications

Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Blood Transfusion ; Infant, Premature, Diseases

Objective To explore the relationship between different modes of respiratory support and feeding intolerance(FI)in preterm infants over the course of their hospitalization and to provide recommendations for the management of enteral feeding in preterm infants requiring respiratory support.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed with the preterm infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU),West China Second University Hospital,Sichuan University between June 2015 and November 2018.The modes of respiratory support were used as independent variables and FI was used as the outcome indicator.The preterm infants were grouped according to the specific modes of respiratory support they were on over the course of their hospitalization and the relationship between each mode of respiratory support and FI was compared.Results A total of 272 preterm infants were enrolled in the study.After adjusting for confounding factors,findings from logistics regression suggested that,compared with normobaric oxygen,high flow nasal cannula(HFNC)might reduce the incidence of FI(odds ratio[OR]=0.53,95％confidence interval[CI]:0.06-4.77),while other modes of respiratory support might increase the incidence of FI.Compared with nasal continuous positive airway pressure(NCPAP),bilevel positive airway pressure(BIPAP)and invasive ventilation might increase the incidence of FI,with the adjusted OR being 1.31 and 1.69,and 95％CI being 0.67-2.55 and 0.65-4.41,respectively.The incidence of FI in BIPAP and invasive ventilation was similar(adjusted OR=1.00,95％CI:0.41-2.42).However,the P-values of the above results were all greater than 0.05.Conclusion HFNC has the lowest incidence of FI in the respiratory support modes examined in this study.Attention should be paid to enteral feeding management when using NCPAP,BIPAP,and invasive ventilation to avoid the occurrence of FI.Given the limited sample size,further research is warranted to confirm the conclusion.

Objective and MethodChemical components in four varieties of Moringa Folium （MF）； traditional Indian YD， modified species of Indian species PKM1， modified species of PKM1 species PKM2， and red river No.1 variety HH） were qualitatively analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS） and gas chromatography mass spectrometry（GC-MS）， and potential mechanism and material basis of MF in the treatment of constipation were revealed based on network pharmacology. ResultData of accurate relative molecular mass and fragment ions in primary and secondary mass spectra in both positive and negative ion modes were acquired by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS， and then 20 nonvolatile components were identified from the four varieties by comparison with references and consulting literature reports. Nineteen volatile components were identified by comparing mass spectrometry information and that in NIST （version 1.7） based on GC-MS， and 674 chemical component targets were predicted using SwissTargetPrediction and SEA after integration and duplicate elimination. A total of 1 086 constipation-related targets were predicted using GeneCards. With Venny， 88 intersection targets were obtained by mapping chemical component targets and disease targets and venny diagram was drawn. STRING and Cytoscape were used to plot protein-protein interaction（PPI） network diagram. Gene ontology（GO） function analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes（KEGG） pathway analysis were completed through Metascape， which indicated that MF treated constipation mainly via thyroid hormone signaling pathway， advanced glycation end products/receptor for advanced glycation end products（AGE/RAGE） signaling pathway， and cancer signaling pathway. Additionally， the "component-target-pathway" map was plotted by Cytoscape， which predicted that the key components of MF in the treatment of constipation were adenosine， astragalin， geranylacetone， 2-methyloctan-3-one， palmitic acid and oleamide. Also， we inferred that the core targets might be prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2（PTGS2）， tumor necrosis factor（TNF）， mitogen-activated protein kinase 1（MAPK1）， alpha 2A adrenergic receptor（ADRA2A）， and interleukin （IL）-6， which distributed in multiple tissues such as colon， small intestine， and rectum. ConclusionThis study clarified the volatile and non-volatile divisions in four varieties of MF comprehensively， and explained that MF treated constipation by reducing inflammatory state and promoting intestinal movement and secretion of intestinal fluid， which provided reference for further quality evaluation and clinical research of MF.

Objective To evaluate the transdermal safety of lanthanum (La) in sunscreen and jellyfish sting protective lotion, establish a microwave digestion-inductively coupled plasma opticalemission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method for determination of lanthanum (La) in rat’s whole blood. Methods The whole blood samples were digested by microwave and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). Using 333.749 nm as the analysis line, the content of La in rat whole blood was determined. Results The correlation linearity of the standard curve of this method was good (r>0.9994), the detection limit of the method was 0.0025 μg/ml, the limit of quantification was 0.0077 μg/ml, the precision was less than 3%, and the recovery rate was between 94.9% and 102.0%. Conclusion The ICP-OES method based on microwave digestion is stable and reliable, and can provide an important basis for the study of the transdermal safety of lanthanum.

Objective To investigate the prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling of fetal nuchal fold (NF) thickening.Methods This study retrospectively analyzed 17 fetuses with increased NF detected by prenatal ultrasound examination in Peking Union Medical College Hospital,Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from December 1,2016 to December 1,2017.All cases were divided into isolated (isolated group) or non-isolated increased NF group (non-isolated group) according to whether the fetus had concomitant ultrasonographic abnormalities or not.Karyotype and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) were performed on all cases.Clinical data,prenatal genetic testing results and pregnancy outcomes were analyzed.Results Of those twelve cases in the isolated group,two were terminated due to the identification of chromosomal abnormalities and pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) and the fetal autopsy results were consistent with the prenatal diagnosis.The rest 10 pregnancies were all continued including one fetus carrying a variant of unknown significance,which was proved to be a paternal heredity by CMA,and nine without genetic abnormalities and all-these infants were healthy during follow-up.Among the five non-isolated cases,one was diagnosed as trisomy 21 by karyotyping and CMA,and the other four were found to have structural abnormalities under ultrasound scan,but without genetic abnormalities in karyotyping and CMA.And all the five pregnancies were terminated after genetic counseling and three of them chose whole exome sequencing (WES) for further test.One homozygous mutation in CHRNA 1 gene and one de novo mutation in SETD2 gene were found in two cases,respectively,while no abnormality was identified in the other one case.Conclusions Once increased NF were indicated by ultrasound examination,prenatal genetic testing should be offered to the patients,including CMA,regardless of other ultrasonographic abnormalities,and WES should also be offered when necessary.Considering a thickened NF is associated with increased risks of structural defects,a close follow-up with fetal echocardiography and ultrasound is required even the prenatal tests are normal.