OBJECTIVE To analyze the characteristics of 57 acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS)patients complicated with cryptococcal meningitis and observe the treatment outcomes.METHODS Totally 57 AIDS pa-tients with complicated cryptococcal meningitis who were treated in Guiyang Public Health Treatment Center from Jan.2019 to Jun.2023 were continuously assigned as the cryptococcal meningitis group,meanwhile,57 patients with simple AIDS were chosen as the simple AIDS group based on a 1∶1 ratio matching case-control study.Both groups received standardized therapies on basis of the criteria.The clinical characteristics,T lymphocyte subsets,biochemical indexes and treatment outcomes were observed and compared between the two groups.RESULTS There were no significant differences in gastrointestinal reactions,fever and eye discomfort between the two groups;the incidence of neurological symptoms of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).There was significant difference in the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets be-tween the cryptococcal meningitis group and the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).The levels of whole blood CD4+,CD4+/CD8+and CD8+of the cryptococcal meningitis group were lower than those of the simple AIDS group;the serum glucose(GLU)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was lower than that of the simple AIDS group;the serum adenosine deaminase(ADA)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the sim-ple AIDS group;the serum immunoglobulin A(IgA)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the immunological failure,vir-ological failure and immunological failure plus virological failure between the two groups after the treatment for 6 months.CONCLUSIONS The incidence of neurological symptoms is higher among the patients with AIDS com-plicated with cryptococcal meningitis than among the patients with simple AIDS.The patients have poor treatment outcomes and more severe damage of T lymphocyte subset functions,and the levels of biochemical indexes vary a-mong the patients,which may provide bases for diagnosis of diseases and assessment of curative effect and prog-nosis.

Objective:To identify proteins associated with the risk of gastric cancer (GC) and build a protein risk score for risk prediction of GC based on proteomic analysis.Methods:Gastric mucosal proteomics data were used to construct Dataset One, comprising 94 GC cases and 230 individuals with different stages of gastric mucosal lesions. The GC cases were recruited from the National Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Early Detection (UGCED) Program in Linqu, Shandong Province, as well as clinical patients from the Fifth Medical Center, General Hospital of PLA, and Peking University Cancer Hospital. Non-cancer individuals were enrolled from the National UGCED Program in Linqu and community screening programs at the Dongfang Hospital. All participants were pathologically confirmed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify gastric mucosal proteins significantly associated with GC risk. Subsequently, plasma proteomics data from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP) were used to construct Dataset Two, including 40 baseline GC cases and 47 933 non-cancer individuals, and Dataset Three, comprising 138 incident GC cases and 47 933 non-cancer individuals during a prospective follow-up period. In Dataset Two, multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations between plasma protein levels and baseline GC risk. In Dataset Three, multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to examine associations with the risk of incident GC. A poly-protein risk score (PRS) was developed using a weighted summation method based on protein effect sizes from Dataset Two. Its associations with GC risk and the progression of gastric mucosal lesions were evaluated using linear regression trend tests.Results:A total of 324, 47 973 and 48 071 participants were included in Datasets One, Two, and Three, respectively. Across the three datasets, the proportions of males and individuals aged>60 years were higher in the GC group than in the non-GC group (all P values<0.05). The follow-up period in Dataset Three had a M ( P 25, P 75) of 14.47 (13.7, 15.2) years, with a median of 7.4 (4.6, 11.3) years for those who progressed to GC. Based on Dataset One, 2 524 tissue-differential proteins associated with GC risk were identified through multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and sex. Among these, seven proteins were consistently associated with GC risk across tissue and plasma levels in Datasets Two and Three, with consistent directions of association. Five proteins (MRC1, APOL1, BST2, PON2, and GGH) were positively associated with GC risk, while two (GSN and CLEC3B) were negatively associated. Analysis of the PRS based on these seven proteins showed that for each standard deviation increase in the tissue-derived PRS, the risk of GC increased by 6.26 times (95% CI: 4.02-9.75). In Dataset Two, each standard deviation increase in the plasma-derived PRS was associated with a 2.13-fold increase in GC risk (95% CI: 1.68-2.69). In the prospective cohort of Dataset Three, individuals in the high PRS group had a 2.27-fold higher risk of GC compared to the low PRS group (95% CI: 1.50-3.45). Moreover, each standard deviation increase in the plasma PRS was associated with a 57% higher risk of GC ( HR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.34-1.84). Additionally, the tissue-derived PRS showed an increasing trend with the progression of gastric mucosal lesions. Conclusion:The tissue and plasma proteomics identified seven individual proteins that may indicate the risk of developing gastric cancer, showing the potential as biomarkers for aiding in the screening of gastric cancer.

Objective:To investigate off-label drug use and the incidence of adverse events (AE) in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease, and to provide reference in standardization of off-label drug use in this population.Methods:The medical records of NTM pulmonary disease patients in our hospital from January to December 2024 were retrieved based on the presence of "nontuberculous mycobacteria" in the diagnosis. The demographic characteristics of patients (gender, age), underlying diseases, identified NTM species, details of off-label prescribing (clinical medication indications and the name, duration and frequency of drugs), and the AE occurrence were collected. The utilization rate, AE incidence, and off-label use rate of the anti-NTM drugs were calculated.Results:A total of 259 patients with NTM pulmonary disease were included in the analysis, including 125 males and 134 females, aged (61±11) years with a range of 20-83 years; 243 patients (93.8%) were complicated with underlying diseases, 99 cases (38.2%) of which had 2 or more underlying diseases. Among the 259 patients, the top 3 pathogenic bacteria in the sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were Mycobacterium intracellulare (126 cases, 48.6%), Mycobacterium abscessus (50 cases, 19.3%), and Mycobacterium avium (30 cases, 11.6%); 16 patients (6.2%) were co-infected with 2 strains. All of the 259 patients were treated with a combination therapy of 4 drugs without discontinuation at least 1 year after the negative sputum culture. All 259 patients had off-label drug use, mainly including off-label indication [98.8%(256/259)] and prolonged treatment duration(100%). Among the 259 patients, 17 kinds of off-label drugs were involved, and the top 5 in terms of usage frequency were ethambutol (182 cases, 70.3%), amikacin (141 cases, 54.4%), azithromycin (140 cases, 54.1%), clarithromycin (135 cases, 52.1%), and rifabutin (106 cases, 40.9%). The overall AE incidence was 37.5% (97/259), mainly including gastrointestinal reactions [17.4% (45/259)], skin pruritus [12.0% (31/259)], and abnormal liver function [9.7% (25/259)]. The incidences of severe AE and AE involving 2 or more systems were 5.0% (13/259) and 17.4% (45/259), respectively. Conclusions:Off-label drug use is prevalent in patients with NTM pulmonary disease, mainly characterized by off-label indications and prolonged treatment duration. A variety of drugs are involved, among which ethambutol, amikacin, macrolides, and rifabutin are the most common. The types of AE reported are all common, mainly including gastrointestinal reactions, allergic reactions, and abnormal liver function, with a low proportion of severe AE. However, off-label use carries inherent risks, it is necessary to strengthen therapeutic drug monitoring and management during the treatment of NTM pulmonary disease.

Objective:To identify proteins associated with the risk of gastric cancer (GC) and build a protein risk score for risk prediction of GC based on proteomic analysis.Methods:Gastric mucosal proteomics data were used to construct Dataset One, comprising 94 GC cases and 230 individuals with different stages of gastric mucosal lesions. The GC cases were recruited from the National Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Early Detection (UGCED) Program in Linqu, Shandong Province, as well as clinical patients from the Fifth Medical Center, General Hospital of PLA, and Peking University Cancer Hospital. Non-cancer individuals were enrolled from the National UGCED Program in Linqu and community screening programs at the Dongfang Hospital. All participants were pathologically confirmed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify gastric mucosal proteins significantly associated with GC risk. Subsequently, plasma proteomics data from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP) were used to construct Dataset Two, including 40 baseline GC cases and 47 933 non-cancer individuals, and Dataset Three, comprising 138 incident GC cases and 47 933 non-cancer individuals during a prospective follow-up period. In Dataset Two, multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations between plasma protein levels and baseline GC risk. In Dataset Three, multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to examine associations with the risk of incident GC. A poly-protein risk score (PRS) was developed using a weighted summation method based on protein effect sizes from Dataset Two. Its associations with GC risk and the progression of gastric mucosal lesions were evaluated using linear regression trend tests.Results:A total of 324, 47 973 and 48 071 participants were included in Datasets One, Two, and Three, respectively. Across the three datasets, the proportions of males and individuals aged>60 years were higher in the GC group than in the non-GC group (all P values<0.05). The follow-up period in Dataset Three had a M ( P 25, P 75) of 14.47 (13.7, 15.2) years, with a median of 7.4 (4.6, 11.3) years for those who progressed to GC. Based on Dataset One, 2 524 tissue-differential proteins associated with GC risk were identified through multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and sex. Among these, seven proteins were consistently associated with GC risk across tissue and plasma levels in Datasets Two and Three, with consistent directions of association. Five proteins (MRC1, APOL1, BST2, PON2, and GGH) were positively associated with GC risk, while two (GSN and CLEC3B) were negatively associated. Analysis of the PRS based on these seven proteins showed that for each standard deviation increase in the tissue-derived PRS, the risk of GC increased by 6.26 times (95% CI: 4.02-9.75). In Dataset Two, each standard deviation increase in the plasma-derived PRS was associated with a 2.13-fold increase in GC risk (95% CI: 1.68-2.69). In the prospective cohort of Dataset Three, individuals in the high PRS group had a 2.27-fold higher risk of GC compared to the low PRS group (95% CI: 1.50-3.45). Moreover, each standard deviation increase in the plasma PRS was associated with a 57% higher risk of GC ( HR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.34-1.84). Additionally, the tissue-derived PRS showed an increasing trend with the progression of gastric mucosal lesions. Conclusion:The tissue and plasma proteomics identified seven individual proteins that may indicate the risk of developing gastric cancer, showing the potential as biomarkers for aiding in the screening of gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE To observe the detection and drug resistance of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoni-ae(CRKP)strains causing hospital-acquired infections(HAI)and community-acquired infections(CAI)in recent years so as to provide bases for prevention and control of CRKP infection and reasonable clinical use of antibiotics.METHODS A total of 3444 patients who were diagnosed with Klebsiella pneumonia infection and were hospitalized in the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from Jan.1,2017 to Dec.31,2023 were recruited as the research subjects.Totally 230 patients with CRKP infection were chosen based on the result of drug susceptibility testing,73 of whom had HAI,and 157 had CAI.The isolation rate of CRKP strains,popula-tion distribution,specimens sources and drug resistance rates were observed and compared between the patients with HAI and the patients with CAI.RESULTS The total isolation rate of CRKP strains was 6.68％(230/3444).There was no difference in the sex of the patients with CRKP infection between the HAI patients and the CAI patients,however,the isolation rate of the CRKP strains from the patients aged between 18 and 45 years old was higher in the HAI group than in the CAI group(P＜0.05).The isolation rates of CRKP strains causing the two types of infections increased year by year,showing a remarkable increasing amplitude in 2022-2023,with the HAI increasing from 9.33％to 20.67％,the CAI increasing from 5.54％to 15.03％.The lower respiratory tract,urinary tract and bacteremia were the most common infection sites,the detection rate of soft tissue infec-tions was higher among the patients with HAI than among the patients with CAI(P=0.047).CRKP strains cau-sing HAI showed the highest isolation rate(33.33％)in catheter specimens,and the isolation rate of CRKP strains in pus specimens was higher among the HAI patients than among the CAI patients(P=0.011).The isola-tion rate of CRKP strains in sputum specimens of the CAI patients raised four times in 2023 as compared with that in 2022.The drug resistance rates of the CRKP strains to 25 types of antibiotics were relatively high and showed upward trends;the drug resistance rate of the HAI-KPN strains to imipenem was 48.78％,higher than 7.09％of the CAI-KPN strains(P＜0.001),and there were no significant differences in the drug resistance rates to other carbapenems between the CAI-KPN strains and the HAI-KPN strains.CONCLUSIONS The isolation rates of the CRKP strains causing the HAI and CAI are increasing year by year.The clinical invasive procedures and community-acquired respiratory tract infections are the key points for prevention and control.It is necessary to in-tensify the hospital-community cooperative prevention and control system based on the isolation rates and drug re-sistance rates of the CRKP strains,and take comprehensive prevention and control measures so as to curb the transmission of the drug-resistant strains.

OBJECTIVE To observe the detection and drug resistance of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoni-ae(CRKP)strains causing hospital-acquired infections(HAI)and community-acquired infections(CAI)in recent years so as to provide bases for prevention and control of CRKP infection and reasonable clinical use of antibiotics.METHODS A total of 3444 patients who were diagnosed with Klebsiella pneumonia infection and were hospitalized in the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from Jan.1,2017 to Dec.31,2023 were recruited as the research subjects.Totally 230 patients with CRKP infection were chosen based on the result of drug susceptibility testing,73 of whom had HAI,and 157 had CAI.The isolation rate of CRKP strains,popula-tion distribution,specimens sources and drug resistance rates were observed and compared between the patients with HAI and the patients with CAI.RESULTS The total isolation rate of CRKP strains was 6.68％(230/3444).There was no difference in the sex of the patients with CRKP infection between the HAI patients and the CAI patients,however,the isolation rate of the CRKP strains from the patients aged between 18 and 45 years old was higher in the HAI group than in the CAI group(P＜0.05).The isolation rates of CRKP strains causing the two types of infections increased year by year,showing a remarkable increasing amplitude in 2022-2023,with the HAI increasing from 9.33％to 20.67％,the CAI increasing from 5.54％to 15.03％.The lower respiratory tract,urinary tract and bacteremia were the most common infection sites,the detection rate of soft tissue infec-tions was higher among the patients with HAI than among the patients with CAI(P=0.047).CRKP strains cau-sing HAI showed the highest isolation rate(33.33％)in catheter specimens,and the isolation rate of CRKP strains in pus specimens was higher among the HAI patients than among the CAI patients(P=0.011).The isola-tion rate of CRKP strains in sputum specimens of the CAI patients raised four times in 2023 as compared with that in 2022.The drug resistance rates of the CRKP strains to 25 types of antibiotics were relatively high and showed upward trends;the drug resistance rate of the HAI-KPN strains to imipenem was 48.78％,higher than 7.09％of the CAI-KPN strains(P＜0.001),and there were no significant differences in the drug resistance rates to other carbapenems between the CAI-KPN strains and the HAI-KPN strains.CONCLUSIONS The isolation rates of the CRKP strains causing the HAI and CAI are increasing year by year.The clinical invasive procedures and community-acquired respiratory tract infections are the key points for prevention and control.It is necessary to in-tensify the hospital-community cooperative prevention and control system based on the isolation rates and drug re-sistance rates of the CRKP strains,and take comprehensive prevention and control measures so as to curb the transmission of the drug-resistant strains.

Objective:To investigate off-label drug use and the incidence of adverse events (AE) in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease, and to provide reference in standardization of off-label drug use in this population.Methods:The medical records of NTM pulmonary disease patients in our hospital from January to December 2024 were retrieved based on the presence of "nontuberculous mycobacteria" in the diagnosis. The demographic characteristics of patients (gender, age), underlying diseases, identified NTM species, details of off-label prescribing (clinical medication indications and the name, duration and frequency of drugs), and the AE occurrence were collected. The utilization rate, AE incidence, and off-label use rate of the anti-NTM drugs were calculated.Results:A total of 259 patients with NTM pulmonary disease were included in the analysis, including 125 males and 134 females, aged (61±11) years with a range of 20-83 years; 243 patients (93.8%) were complicated with underlying diseases, 99 cases (38.2%) of which had 2 or more underlying diseases. Among the 259 patients, the top 3 pathogenic bacteria in the sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were Mycobacterium intracellulare (126 cases, 48.6%), Mycobacterium abscessus (50 cases, 19.3%), and Mycobacterium avium (30 cases, 11.6%); 16 patients (6.2%) were co-infected with 2 strains. All of the 259 patients were treated with a combination therapy of 4 drugs without discontinuation at least 1 year after the negative sputum culture. All 259 patients had off-label drug use, mainly including off-label indication [98.8%(256/259)] and prolonged treatment duration(100%). Among the 259 patients, 17 kinds of off-label drugs were involved, and the top 5 in terms of usage frequency were ethambutol (182 cases, 70.3%), amikacin (141 cases, 54.4%), azithromycin (140 cases, 54.1%), clarithromycin (135 cases, 52.1%), and rifabutin (106 cases, 40.9%). The overall AE incidence was 37.5% (97/259), mainly including gastrointestinal reactions [17.4% (45/259)], skin pruritus [12.0% (31/259)], and abnormal liver function [9.7% (25/259)]. The incidences of severe AE and AE involving 2 or more systems were 5.0% (13/259) and 17.4% (45/259), respectively. Conclusions:Off-label drug use is prevalent in patients with NTM pulmonary disease, mainly characterized by off-label indications and prolonged treatment duration. A variety of drugs are involved, among which ethambutol, amikacin, macrolides, and rifabutin are the most common. The types of AE reported are all common, mainly including gastrointestinal reactions, allergic reactions, and abnormal liver function, with a low proportion of severe AE. However, off-label use carries inherent risks, it is necessary to strengthen therapeutic drug monitoring and management during the treatment of NTM pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the characteristics of 57 acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS)patients complicated with cryptococcal meningitis and observe the treatment outcomes.METHODS Totally 57 AIDS pa-tients with complicated cryptococcal meningitis who were treated in Guiyang Public Health Treatment Center from Jan.2019 to Jun.2023 were continuously assigned as the cryptococcal meningitis group,meanwhile,57 patients with simple AIDS were chosen as the simple AIDS group based on a 1∶1 ratio matching case-control study.Both groups received standardized therapies on basis of the criteria.The clinical characteristics,T lymphocyte subsets,biochemical indexes and treatment outcomes were observed and compared between the two groups.RESULTS There were no significant differences in gastrointestinal reactions,fever and eye discomfort between the two groups;the incidence of neurological symptoms of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).There was significant difference in the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets be-tween the cryptococcal meningitis group and the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).The levels of whole blood CD4+,CD4+/CD8+and CD8+of the cryptococcal meningitis group were lower than those of the simple AIDS group;the serum glucose(GLU)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was lower than that of the simple AIDS group;the serum adenosine deaminase(ADA)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the sim-ple AIDS group;the serum immunoglobulin A(IgA)level of the cryptococcal meningitis group was higher than that of the simple AIDS group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the immunological failure,vir-ological failure and immunological failure plus virological failure between the two groups after the treatment for 6 months.CONCLUSIONS The incidence of neurological symptoms is higher among the patients with AIDS com-plicated with cryptococcal meningitis than among the patients with simple AIDS.The patients have poor treatment outcomes and more severe damage of T lymphocyte subset functions,and the levels of biochemical indexes vary a-mong the patients,which may provide bases for diagnosis of diseases and assessment of curative effect and prog-nosis.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)associated pain commonly predicts adverse events among patients.This clinical feature indicates the engagement of nociceptors on sensory neurons during the development of malignancy.However,it is yet to be determined if targeting oncometabolite-associated nociception processes can hinder OSCC progression.In this study,we reported that nociceptive endings infiltrating both clinical samples and mouse tumor xenografts were associated with poorer clinical outcomes and drove tumor progression in vivo,as evidenced by clinical tissue microarray analysis and murine lingual denervation.We observed that the OSCC microenvironment was characteristic of excessive adenosine due to CD73 upregulation which negatively predicted clinical outcomes in the TCGA-HNSC patient cohort.Notably,such adenosine concentrative OSCC niche was associated with the stimulation of adenosine A2A receptor(A2AR)on trigeminal ganglia.Antagonism of trigeminal A2AR with a selective A2AR inhibitor SCH58261 resulted in impeded OSCC growth in vivo.We showed that trigeminal A2AR overstimulation in OSCC xenograft did not entail any changes in the transcription level of CGRP in trigeminal ganglia but significantly triggered the release of CGRP,an effect counteracted by SCH58261.We further demonstrated the pro-tumor effect of CGRP by feeding mice with the clinically approved CGRP receptor antagonist rimegepant which inhibited the activation of ERK and YAP.Finally,we diminished the impact of CGRP on OSCC with istradefylline,a clinically available drug that targets neuronal A2AR.Therefore,we established trigeminal A2AR-mediated CGRP release as a promising druggable circuit in OSCC treatment.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)associated pain commonly predicts adverse events among patients.This clinical feature indicates the engagement of nociceptors on sensory neurons during the development of malignancy.However,it is yet to be determined if targeting oncometabolite-associated nociception processes can hinder OSCC progression.In this study,we reported that nociceptive endings infiltrating both clinical samples and mouse tumor xenografts were associated with poorer clinical outcomes and drove tumor progression in vivo,as evidenced by clinical tissue microarray analysis and murine lingual denervation.We observed that the OSCC microenvironment was characteristic of excessive adenosine due to CD73 upregulation which negatively predicted clinical outcomes in the TCGA-HNSC patient cohort.Notably,such adenosine concentrative OSCC niche was associated with the stimulation of adenosine A2A receptor(A2AR)on trigeminal ganglia.Antagonism of trigeminal A2AR with a selective A2AR inhibitor SCH58261 resulted in impeded OSCC growth in vivo.We showed that trigeminal A2AR overstimulation in OSCC xenograft did not entail any changes in the transcription level of CGRP in trigeminal ganglia but significantly triggered the release of CGRP,an effect counteracted by SCH58261.We further demonstrated the pro-tumor effect of CGRP by feeding mice with the clinically approved CGRP receptor antagonist rimegepant which inhibited the activation of ERK and YAP.Finally,we diminished the impact of CGRP on OSCC with istradefylline,a clinically available drug that targets neuronal A2AR.Therefore,we established trigeminal A2AR-mediated CGRP release as a promising druggable circuit in OSCC treatment.