Enamel demineralization, the formation of white spot lesions, is a common issue in clinical orthodontic treatment. The appearance of white spot lesions not only affects the texture and health of dental hard tissues but also impacts the health and aesthetics of teeth after orthodontic treatment. The prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of white spot lesions that occur throughout the orthodontic treatment process involve multiple dental specialties. This expert consensus will focus on providing guiding opinions on the management and prevention of white spot lesions during orthodontic treatment, advocating for proactive prevention, early detection, timely treatment, scientific follow-up, and multidisciplinary management of white spot lesions throughout the orthodontic process, thereby maintaining the dental health of patients during orthodontic treatment.
Humans ; Consensus ; Dental Caries/etiology* ; Dental Enamel/pathology* ; Tooth Demineralization/etiology* ; Tooth Remineralization

Tricellulin, a key tricellular tight junction (TJ) protein, is essential for maintaining the barrier integrity of acinar epithelia against macromolecular passage in salivary glands. This study aims to explore the role and regulatory mechanism of tricellulin in the development of salivary gland hypofunction in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Employing a multifaceted approach involving patient biopsies, non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice as a SS model, salivary gland acinar cell-specific tricellulin conditional knockout (Tric^CKO) mice, and IFN-γ-stimulated salivary gland epithelial cells, we investigated the role of tricellulin in SS-related hyposalivation. Our data revealed diminished levels of tricellulin in salivary glands of SS patients. Similarly, NOD mice displayed a reduction in tricellulin expression from the onset of the disease, concomitant with hyposecretion and an increase in salivary albumin content. Consistent with these findings, Tric^CKO mice exhibited both hyposecretion and leakage of macromolecular tracers when compared to control animals. Mechanistically, the JAK/STAT1/miR-145 axis was identified as mediating the IFN-γ-induced downregulation of tricellulin. Treatment with AT1001, a TJ sealer, ameliorated epithelial barrier dysfunction, restored tricellulin expression, and consequently alleviated hyposalivation in NOD mice. Importantly, treatment with miR-145 antagomir to specifically recover the expression of tricellulin in NOD mice significantly alleviated hyposalivation and macromolecular leakage. Collectively, we identified that tricellulin deficiency in salivary glands contributed to hyposalivation in SS. Our findings highlight tricellulin as a potential therapeutic target for hyposecretion, particularly in the context of reinforcing epithelial barrier function through preventing leakage of macromolecules in salivary glands.
Sjogren's Syndrome/complications* ; Animals ; Xerostomia/etiology* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred NOD ; MARVEL Domain Containing 2 Protein/metabolism* ; Humans ; Mice, Knockout ; Disease Models, Animal ; Interferon-gamma ; Salivary Glands/metabolism* ; Tight Junctions/metabolism* ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Female

The prevalence of Class III malocclusion varies among different countries and regions. The populations from Southeast Asian countries (Chinese and Malaysian) showed the highest prevalence rate of 15.8%, which can seriously affect oral function, facial appearance, and mental health. As anterior crossbite tends to worsen with growth, early orthodontic treatment can harness growth potential to normalize maxillofacial development or reduce skeletal malformation severity, thereby reducing the difficulty and shortening the treatment cycle of later-stage treatment. This is beneficial for the physical and mental growth of children. Therefore, early orthodontic treatment for Class III malocclusion is particularly important. Determining the optimal timing for early orthodontic treatment requires a comprehensive assessment of clinical manifestations, dental age, and skeletal age, and can lead to better results with less effort. Currently, standardized treatment guidelines for early orthodontic treatment of Class III malocclusion are lacking. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the etiology, clinical manifestations, classification, and early orthodontic techniques for Class III malocclusion, along with systematic discussions on selecting early treatment plans. The purpose of this expert consensus is to standardize clinical practices and improve the treatment outcomes of Class III malocclusion through early orthodontic treatment.
Humans ; Malocclusion, Angle Class III/classification* ; Orthodontics, Corrective/methods* ; Consensus ; Child

BACKGROUND: The use of inserted sham acupuncture as a placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is controversial, because it may produce specific effects that cause an underestimation of the effect of acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVE: This systematic survey investigates the magnitude of insert-specific effects of sham acupuncture and whether they affect the estimation of acupuncture treatment effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify acupuncture RCTs from their inception until December 2022. INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture and no treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: The total effect measured for an acupuncture treatment group in RCTs were divided into three components, including the natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (controlled for no-treatment group), the placebo effect, and the specific effect of acupuncture. The first two constituted the contextual effect of acupuncture, which is mimicked by a sham acupuncture treatment group. The proportion of acupuncture total effect size was considered to be 1. The proportion of natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (PNE) and proportional contextual effect (PCE) of included RCTs were pooled using meta-analyses with a random-effect model. The proportion of acupuncture placebo effect was the difference between PCE and PNE in RCTs with non-inserted sham acupuncture. The proportion of insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture (PIES) was obtained by subtracting the proportion of acupuncture placebo effect and PNE from PCE in RCTs with inserted sham acupuncture. The impact of PIES on the estimation of acupuncture's treatment effect was evaluated by quantifying the percentage of RCTs that the effect of outcome changed from no statistical difference to statistical difference after removing PIES in the included studies, and the impact of PIES was externally validated in other acupuncture RCTs with an inserted sham acupuncture group that were not used to calculate PIES. RESULTS: This analysis included 32 studies with 5492 patients. The overall PNE was 0.335 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.255-0.415) and the PCE of acupuncture was 0.639 (95% CI, 0.567-0.710) of acupuncture's total effect. The proportional contribution of the placebo effect to acupuncture's total effect was 0.191, and the PIES was 0.189. When we modeled the exclusion of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, the acupuncture treatment effect changed from no difference to a significant difference in 45.45% of the included RCTs, and in 40.91% of the external validated RCTs. CONCLUSION The insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture in RCTs represents 18.90% of acupuncture's total effect and significantly affects the evaluation of the acupuncture treatment effect. More than 40% of RCTs that used inserted sham acupuncture would draw different conclusions if the PIES had been controlled for. Considering the impact of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, caution should be taken when using inserted sham acupuncture placebos in RCTs. Please cite this article as: Luo XC, Liu JL, Yao MH, Chen YM, Fan AY, Liang FR, Zhao JP, Zhao L, Zhou X, Zhong XY, Yang JH, Li B, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li L. Specific effect of inserted sham acupuncture and its impact on the estimation of acupuncture treatment effect in randomized controlled trials: A systematic survey. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):630-640.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Placebo Effect ; Placebos ; Treatment Outcome

To develop a milestone-based evaluation system for the core "knowledge and skills" competency of neurology residents that is tailored to China's medical context, so as to provide precise guidance for their training and assessment.

Background::In the clinic, practitioners encounter many patients with an abnormal pattern of dense punctate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal in the basal ganglia, a phenomenon known as "cheese sign". This sign is reported as common in cerebrovascular diseases, dementia, and old age. Recently, cheese sign has been speculated to consist of dense perivascular space (PVS). This study aimed to assess the lesion types of cheese sign and analyze the correlation between this sign and vascular disease risk factors.Methods::A total of 812 patients from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) dementia cohort were enrolled. We analyzed the relationship between cheese sign and vascular risk. For assessing cheese sign and defining its degree, the abnormal punctate signals were classified into basal ganglia hyperintensity (BGH), PVS, lacunae/infarctions and microbleeds, and counted separately. Each type of lesion was rated on a four-level scale, and then the sum was calculated; this total was defined as the cheese sign score. Fazekas and Age-Related White Matter Changes (ARWMC) scores were used to evaluate the paraventricular, deep, and subcortical gray/white matter hyperintensities.Results::A total of 118 patients (14.5%) in this dementia cohort were found to have cheese sign. Age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.090, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.064-1.120, P <0.001), hypertension (OR: 1.828, 95% CI: 1.123-2.983, P = 0.014), and stroke (OR: 1.901, 95% CI: 1.092-3.259, P = 0.025) were risk factors for cheese sign. There was no significant relationship between diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cheese sign. The main components of cheese sign were BGH, PVS, and lacunae/infarction. The proportion of PVS increased with cheese sign severity. Conclusions::The risk factors for cheese sign were hypertension, age, and stroke. Cheese sign consists of BGH, PVS, and lacunae/infarction.

Objective:To explore the application of 18F-flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomo-graphy/computed tomography(18F-FDG PET/CT)in rheumatic diseases,to compare these different ima-ging features,and to describe the current PET/CT imaging status in clinical practice.Methods:A total of 486 cases in our department from January 2012 to December 2018 were enrolled in this study,and 18 F-FDG PET/CT examination was performed in all the patients.The clinical use of 18F-FDG PET/CT was retrospectively analyzed to discuss the clinical application and its imaging characteristics of rheumatic diseases.Categorical data were used to ascertain prevalence statistics,whereas continuous data were used to delineate means and standard deviations.Independent sample t test,Chi square test and Mann-Whit-ney U test were used for statistical analysis.A P-value of＜0.05 was considered significant.Results:(1)From 2012 to 2018,totally 486 patients in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology under-went18F-FDG PET/CT examination,accounting for 5.30％of the total number of PET/CT examinations in the whole hospital.In this study,304 of the 486 patient were female(62.55％),182 of them were male(37.45％),the average age of the patients was(53.21±18.81)years,and the proportion of the patients aged 45-65(227/486,46.71％)was the highest group.(2)Three leading purposes of the PET/CT examination in our department were to exclude cancers(55.56％),assist in diagnosis(24.60％)and evaluate the disease activity(19.84％).(3)Of the 486 patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT,327 cases might indicate a differential diagnosis of rheumatic disease,of which,292 ca-ses were highly suggestive of diagnosis,including 61 cases of myositis,60 cases of vasculitis,37 cases of adult still's disease,32 cases of IgG4 related diseases,30 cases of rheumatoid arthritis,22 cases of Sj?gren's syndrome,22 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus,and 9 cases of rheumatic polymyalgia;the remaining 35 cases only prompted the possibility of autoimmune disease.Of the 486 patients,74 ca-ses suggested the diagnosis of cancers,25 cases indicated the diagnosis of infectious diseases,while 60 cases could not show any diagnostic values.Ten patients with rheumatic disease were followed up with a post-treatment repeat PET/CT,and the findings in remission showed reduced 18F-FDG metabolic activity as well as a reduction in the extent of metabolic hypertrophic lesions.Conclusion:There are some typi-cal sign of 18F-FDG PET/CT for diffuse connective tissue diseases,therefore 18F-FDG PET/CT has auxi-liary effect on the classification diagnosis of rheumatic diseases,especially for the exclusion of cancers.

Objective:To explore the application effect of preoperative autologous blood localization method in laparoscopic resection of gastric stromal tumors in unfavorable areas of the stomach.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the case data of 40 patients with gastric stromal tumors in unfavorable locations admitted to Jinjiang Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022. The patients were divided into a control group (intraoperative endoscopic localization method) and an autologous blood localization group according to different intraoperative lesion localization methods, with 20 cases in each group. The surgical time, intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization time, postoperative exhaust time, and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results:The surgery time of the autologous blood localization group was shorter than that of the control group [(92.30±8.80)min vs (108.20±14.87)min, P<0.05]. There was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative bleeding, hospitalization time, and postoperative exhaust time between the two groups (all P>0.05). Two groups of patients did not show an increase in inflammatory indicators such as white blood cells and C-reactive protein on the day after surgery. Both groups of patients did not experience adverse reactions such as fever, abdominal pain, or postoperative complications. Conclusions:The autologous blood injection localization method provides a safe, simple, and effective method for preoperative localization of gastric stromal tumors in unfavorable areas of the stomach under laparoscopy, and is worthy of clinical promotion and use.

A 28-year-old woman presented with a 4-year history of fatigue and sleepiness and was found to have central hypothyroidism and mood disorder. The patient had normal thyroid volume and did not show any other pituitary axis involvement. Over the course of the disease, her symptom improvement matched with the free thyroxine (FT 4) rebound and the adjustment of antipsychotic medication. The patient′s grandmother had central hypothyroidism, and her mother and uncle had lowered or inappropriately normal thyroid stimulating hormone. Hence, genetic involvement was highly suspected, but whole exon sequencing did not reveal a pathogenic variant. Levothyroxine tablets were prescribed to maintain a normal median level of FT 4, and mood disorder medications were adjusted by specialists. Isolated central hypothyroidism is extremely rare, and we report this case aiming to raise awareness of this condition.