1.A practice guideline for therapeutic drug monitoring of mycophenolic acid for solid organ transplants.
Shuang LIU ; Hongsheng CHEN ; Zaiwei SONG ; Qi GUO ; Xianglin ZHANG ; Bingyi SHI ; Suodi ZHAI ; Lingli ZHANG ; Liyan MIAO ; Liyan CUI ; Xiao CHEN ; Yalin DONG ; Weihong GE ; Xiaofei HOU ; Ling JIANG ; Long LIU ; Lihong LIU ; Maobai LIU ; Tao LIN ; Xiaoyang LU ; Lulin MA ; Changxi WANG ; Jianyong WU ; Wei WANG ; Zhuo WANG ; Ting XU ; Wujun XUE ; Bikui ZHANG ; Guanren ZHAO ; Jun ZHANG ; Limei ZHAO ; Qingchun ZHAO ; Xiaojian ZHANG ; Yi ZHANG ; Yu ZHANG ; Rongsheng ZHAO
Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2025;26(9):897-914
Mycophenolic acid (MPA), the active moiety of both mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS), serves as a primary immunosuppressant for maintaining solid organ transplants. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) enhances treatment outcomes through tailored approaches. This study aimed to develop an evidence-based guideline for MPA TDM, facilitating its rational application in clinical settings. The guideline plan was drawn from the Institute of Medicine and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Using the Delphi method, clinical questions and outcome indicators were generated. Systematic reviews, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence quality evaluations, expert opinions, and patient values guided evidence-based suggestions for the guideline. External reviews further refined the recommendations. The guideline for the TDM of MPA (IPGRP-2020CN099) consists of four sections and 16 recommendations encompassing target populations, monitoring strategies, dosage regimens, and influencing factors. High-risk populations, timing of TDM, area under the curve (AUC) versus trough concentration (C0), target concentration ranges, monitoring frequency, and analytical methods are addressed. Formulation-specific recommendations, initial dosage regimens, populations with unique considerations, pharmacokinetic-informed dosing, body weight factors, pharmacogenetics, and drug-drug interactions are covered. The evidence-based guideline offers a comprehensive recommendation for solid organ transplant recipients undergoing MPA therapy, promoting standardization of MPA TDM, and enhancing treatment efficacy and safety.
Mycophenolic Acid/administration & dosage*
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Drug Monitoring/methods*
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Humans
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Organ Transplantation
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Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage*
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Delphi Technique
2.Celastrol-loaded ginsenoside Rg3 liposomes boost immunotherapy by remodeling obesity-related immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in melanoma.
Hongyan ZHANG ; Jingyi HUANG ; Yujie LI ; Wanyu JIN ; Jiale WEI ; Ninghui MA ; Limei SHEN ; Mancang GU ; Chaofeng MU ; Donghang XU ; Yang XIONG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(5):2687-2702
Obesity usually exacerbates the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITME), hindering CD8+ T cell infiltration and function, which further represents a significant barrier to the efficacy of immunotherapy. Herein, a multifunctional liposomal system (CR-Lip) for encapsulating celastrol (CEL) was utilized to remodel obesity-related ITME and improve cancer immunotherapy, wherein Ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) was detected interspersed in the phospholipid bilayer and its glycosyl exposed on the surface of the liposome. CR-Lip had a relatively uniform size (116.5 nm), facilitating favorable tumor tissue accumulation through the interaction between Rg3 and glucose transporter 1 overexpressed in obese tumor cells. Upon reaching the tumor region, CR-Lip was found to induce the immunogenic cell death (ICD) of HFD tumor cells. Notably, the level of PHD3 in HFD tumor cells was effectively boosted by CR-Lip to effectively block metabolic reprogramming and increase the availability of major free fatty acids fuel sources. In vivo, experiments studies revealed that the easy-obtained nano platform stimulated enhanced the production of various cytokines in tumor tissues, DC maturation, CD8+ T-cell infiltration, and synergistic anticancer therapeutic potency with aPD-1 (tumor inhibition rate = 82.1%) towards obesity-related melanoma. Consequently, this study presented an efficacious approach to tumor immunotherapy in obese mice by encompassing tumor eradication, inducing ICD, and reprogramming metabolism. Furthermore, it offered a unique insight into a valuable attempt at the immunotherapy of obesity-associated related tumors.
3.Effect of serum HBV RNA on antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Hongjing YIN ; Limei LI ; Xia CHENG ; Ying XU
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2025;41(10):2030-2036
ObjectiveTo investigate the role of serum HBV RNA in assessing antiviral therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B, as well as its potential as a biomarker in clinical therapy, and to provide a scientific basis for the clinical treatment of chronic hepatitis B. MethodsA total of 134 patients who were diagnosed with chronic HBV infection in The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from April 2023 to May 2024 were enrolled as subjects, and related examinations were performed, including HBV DNA, serum HBV RNA, liver function, HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and transient elastography of the liver. The independent-samples t test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison between multiple groups; the chi-square test or the continuity-adjusted chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. Pearson correlation analysis or Spearman correlation analysis was performed. ResultsThe 134 patients with chronic HBV infection were divided into HBeAg-positive group with 45 patients and HBeAg-negative group with 89 patients, and there were significant differences between the two groups in age, the positive rate and quantitative value of HBV DNA, the positive rate and quantitative value of serum HBV RNA, HBsAg, anti-HBe, and ALT (all P<0.05). In the cohort study of the HBeAg negative group, there were significant differences in the levels of HBV DNA, HBsAg, and GGT between the serum HBV RNA-negative group with 14 patients and the serum HBV RNA-positive group with 75 patients (all P<0.05). There were 28 patients in the HBeAg-positive group and 62 in the HBeAg-positive group who used antiviral drugs for ≥1 month, and the 28 HBeAg-positive patients had an HBV RNA positive rate of 100%, while for the 62 HBeAg-negative patients, there were significant differences in the positive rate and level of serum HBV RNA between the patients with different durations of medication (both P<0.05). Among the 89 HBeAg-negative patients, there were 62 treatment-experienced patients and 27 treatment-naïve patients, and there was a significant difference between the two groups in HBV RNA level [2.07 (1.52 — 2.82) log10 copies/mL vs 2.69 (1.80 — 3.55) log10 copies/mL, Z=2.034, P=0.042]. For HBeAg-negative patients, serum HBV RNA was positively correlated with HBV DNA and HBsAg (both P<0.05), and for HBeAg-positive patients, serum HBV RNA was significantly positively correlated with HBV DNA, HBsAg, and HBeAg (all P<0.05). ConclusionAntiviral therapy can reduce viral load, and for HBeAg-negative patients with high-sensitivity HBV DNA below the lower limit of detection, serum HBV RNA can fill the “gap” in the detection of viral replication.
4.Epidemiological characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis among the elderly in Yangzhou City from 2013 to 2022
ZHAO Qianying ; WANG Hui ; LI Jincheng ; XU Jie ; ZHU Limei
Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;37(3):276-279
Objective:
To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among residents aged 60 years and older in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province from 2013 to 2022, so as to provide the evidence for the improvement of PTB prevention and control measures in this population.
Methods:
Data of PTB cases aged 60 years and older in Yangzhou City from 2013 to 2022 were collected from the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System. The temporal, population, and regional distribution characteristics of PTB cases were analyzed using the descriptive epidemiological method.
Results:
A total of 8 726 PTB cases aged 60 years and older were registered in Yangzhou City from 2013 to 2022, including 4 167 cases positive for pathogenic tests, with a positive rate of 47.75%. The registered incidence rates and the positive rates of pathogenic tests of PTB among residents aged 60 years and older in Yangzhou City showed downward trends from 2013 to 2022 (both P<0.05). The average annual registered incidence rate of PTB was 83.95/105, and the average annual registered incidence rate of PTB positive for pathogenic tests was 40.09/105. The average annual registered incidence rate of PTB in males was higher than that in females (138.57/105 vs. 31.76/105, P<0.05). The registered incidence rate of PTB showed an increasing trend with age (P<0.05), with the highest rate observed in the age group of 75-<80 years (110.37/105). The top three regions with the highest average annual registered incidence rates of PTB were Jiangdu District (94.34/105), Baoying County (91.61/105) and Hanjiang District (84.93/105).
Conclusions
The registered incidence of PTB among residents aged 60 years and older in Yangzhou City showed a downward trend from 2013 to 2022. Particular attention should be payed to males, residents aged 75- <80 years, and the elderly in Jiangdu District and Baoying County.
5.Environmental object surfaces contamination with carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria in intensive care units of tertiary hospitals in Shanghai
Chengling XU ; Feifei WU ; Qingfeng SHI ; Jiabing LIN ; Lishan LI ; Limei GAO ; Yehua LIU ; Xiang CHEN
Chinese Journal of Nosocomiology 2025;35(17):2576-2580
OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status of contamination with carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria in environment of intensive care units(ICU)of tertiary hospitals in Shanghai and find out the potential contamination sources so as to provide bases for prevention and control of multidrug-resistant organisms infec-tions in the ICUs.METHODS The surroundings of the ICU patients detected with CRGNB and environmental ob-jects surfaces in public area were sampled by mSuperCARBA chromogenic media from Dec.2024 to Jan.2025,the strains were isolated,and the targeted strains were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight(MALDI-TOF)mass spectrometer.RESULTS A total of 653 samples were collected in the survey,76 of which were positive for bacterial culture,60 were detected with CRGNB,and the isolation rate of CRGNB was 9.19%.The isolation rate of CRGNB was 53.40%in the water-source group,0.91%in the non-water-source group,and there was significant difference(x2=286.450,P<0.001).The result of whole genome sequencing for 17 strains of CRKP showed that ST11 and ST15 were the two major types of multilocus typing(MT),respective-ly carrying 2-12 types of drug resistance genes.CONCLUSIONS The CRGNB strains are detected in some environ-mental sites of the ICUs of 15 tertiary hospitals in Shanghai,and the isolation rate of CRKP is highest among them.The colonization rate of CRGNB is relatively low on the highly frequent-contact object surfaces of the ICUs,however,sink drain holes poses a risk of hospital-acquired CRGNB infections transmissions.Additionally,the ba-sins and towels of the CRGNB patients are hard to be thoroughly cleaned,disinfected and dried,resulting in a high contamination rate.
6.Investigation and management of a clustered incident of incision infection after microtia plastic surgery
Jian SUN ; Zhiyuan CHEN ; Hua XU ; Limei MA ; Weiguang LI
Chinese Journal of Nosocomiology 2025;35(16):2432-2436
OBJECTIVE To summarize the process of investigation,disposal and prevention of a cluster incident of post-operative incision infection following microtia plastic surgery in the otorhinolaryngology department of a terti-ary care hospital,in order to provide a basis for hospital-aquired infection prevention and control.METHODS An epidemiological survey was conducted on seven patients who underwent otorhinolaryngoplasty for microtia in the ENT department of a tertiary care hospital from 27 Jul.to 7 Sep.2023,and interventions were implemented.RESULTS The incidence rate of infection was 71.43%among post-otorhinolaryngoplasty patients.In 5 patients,area for electrocoagulation of haemostatic increased by approximately 50%compared to the previous period,and drainage tubes were left in the surgical area for 11 to 13 days.Patients changed dressings in a shared dressing room.Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in three of the infected patients,and their antibiotic sensitivity pat-terns were similar to that of a lower respiratory tract infection patient(case 0)in the same department.CONCLUSION Inadequate aseptic practice by medical staff,longer retention of drainage tubes,incomplete disin-fection of the environment of the dressing room,and changes in surgical procedures may be the primary factors contributing to the occurrence of this cluster of infections.
7.Research progress in the immunomodulatory mechanisms mediated by galectin-9
Yiwen XU ; Jun LING ; Bing ZHU ; Limei YU ; Shaoli YOU
Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology 2025;45(4):355-360
Galectin-9 (Gal-9), a member of the β-galactoside-binding lectin family, is widely expressed in various tissues and cells. It can specifically bind to multiple glycoprotein receptors, including the receptors of Tim-3, CD44, 4-1BB/CD137, and Dectin-1, thereby regulating the activity of immune cells and participating in crucial physiological and pathological processes such as immune regulation and tumor development. Given its role in immunomodulation, Gal-9 is considered a potential target for immunotherapy, showing promising prospects in the treatment of various diseases, including autoimmune disorders, transplantation rejection, pregnancy complications, inflammation, infection, and cancer. This review summarizes the biological effects mediated by Gal-9 upon binding to its receptors, which may help to explore the potential application value of Gal-9 in clinical diagnosis and therapy.
8.Development and validation of a machine learning-based prognostic model for portal vein thrombosis in liver cirrhosis
Junqi YUAN ; Sa LYU ; Jun LING ; Yiwen XU ; Hui FENG ; Shaoli YOU ; Fuquan LIU ; Limei YU ; Bing ZHU
Chinese Journal of Hepatobiliary Surgery 2025;31(7):497-502
Objective:To analyze the prognostic factors of patients with liver cirrhosis and portal vein thrombosis (PVT), and to construct a prognostic prediction model based on machine learning methods.Methods:The clinical data of 388 patients with liver cirrhosis and PVT admitted to the Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from January 2022 to April 2024 were retrospectively collected and analyzed, including 243 males and 145 females, aged (56.9±10.9) years. A total of 388 patients were randomly divided into the training set ( n=310) and the testing set ( n=78) in a 4∶1 ratio. The Boruta algorithm was used to screen the key features in the training set, and then four machine learning algorithms, including random forest, support vector machine, generalized linear model and Bayesian, were used to establish a survival prediction model. Model performance was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the test set and the training set. The patients were followed up for 1 year for survival. Sort the importance of features based on the SHAP value. Results:There were 250 patients (80.6%) who survived and 60 (19.4%) who died. The model for end-stage liver disease score, total bilirubin, serum creatinine, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, D-dimer, white blood cell count, severe ascites ratio, and Child-Pugh grade C ratio of liver function in the death group were higher than those in the survival group, and the red blood cell count and hematocrit were lower than those in the survival group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The areas under the ROC curve for predicting survival by random forest, support vector machine, generalized linear model and Bayesian model were 0.92, 0.78, 0.81 and 0.71 in the training set, and the area under the ROC curve in the testing set were 0.81, 0.72, 0.67 and 0.68, respectively. Random forest had the best prediction performance, with an accuracy of 81.7%, a sensitivity of 84.6%, and a specificity of 76.9% in the testing set. In the analysis of the importance of characteristic parameters of the random forest model, total bilirubin, red blood cells, hematocrit, serum creatinine, ascites classification, etc. had a relatively high contribution to the model. Conclusion:In the survival prediction model of patients with liver cirrhosis and PVT based on machine learning algorithm, the random forest model had high prediction performance, and total bilirubin may be the most important factor affecting the survival prognosis of patients.
9.Distribution of traditional Chinese medicine constitution and construction of a risk prediction model in patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia
Zhijia SHEN ; Qiaoyan LIU ; Zhijie QIAN ; Wentao SHI ; Limei YIN ; Lu XU
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(15):1157-1167
Objective:To explore the distribution of Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution among patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH) and identify risk factors for IAH in patients with diabetes mellitus, to develop a risk prediction model. The aim is to validate the models′ predictive accuracy to facilitate early prevention and treatment of IAH.Methods:A case control study employing convenience sampling model was conducted on 1351 hospitalized patients with diabetes mellitus in the endocrinology departments of Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine and Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, between August 2021 and December 2023. Traditional Chinese medicine constitution types were determined using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Classification and Judgment (ZYYXH/T157-2009). Data were divided into training and test sets at a ratio of 7∶3. Two prediction models were developed: Model 1, a conventional IAH prediction model for patients with diabetes mellitus, and Model 2, an IAH prediction model for patients with diabetes mellitus incorporating traditional Chinese medicine constitution. Nomograms were drawn for both models. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, calibration curve, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of models 1 and 2. The improvement in prediction performance between Models 1 and 2 was assessed using Delong test, AUC, net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and decision curve analysis (DCA).Results:The study included 1 283 patients with diabetes mellitus, including 578 males and 705 females, aged (59.61 ± 14.09) years. The incidence of IAH among patients with diabetes mellitus was 20.50% (263/1283), with yang deficiency constitution being the most prevalent traditional Chinese medicine constitution type, at 47.53% (125/263). Multivariate analysis revealed that age, body mass index, course of diabetes, neurological hypoglycemia symptoms, hypoglycemia symptoms and severe hypoglycemia history were the influencing factors of Model 1 (all P<0.05); age, body mass index, neurological hypoglycemic symptoms, hypoglycemic symptoms, history of severe hypoglycemia, and traditional Chinese medicine constitution were the influencing factors of Model 2 (all P<0.05). The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test showed a good fit of Model 2 [training set ( χ2=8.48, P>0.05), test set ( χ2=3.92, P>0.05)]. The Delong test results showed that the AUC for Model 2 was 0.96 for both the training and test sets, significantly higher than the AUCs of the 0.90 and 0.91 for Model 1 ( Z=-7.27, -3.70, both P<0.01). Furthermore, NRI was 0.66 ( 95%CI 0.53-0.79, P<0.01) and IDI was 0.02 (95% CI 0.01-0.03, P<0.05) for Model 2. Comparative analysis of clinical utility demonstrated that the net benefit of Model 2 for predicting IAH in patients with diabetes mellitus surpassed that of Model 1 across threshold probabilities ranging from 5% to 100%. Conclusions:The study constructed a nomogram prediction model included traditional Chinese medicine constitution with good predictive performance for IAH in patients with diabetes mellitus, and is of significant clinical value for identifying high-risk IAH populations.IAH patients mainly have a biased constitution, indicating that medical staff can reduce the incidence of IAH by improving the patients′ constitution.
10.Heart-sparing strategy for breast cancer radiotherapy based on nnU-Net: regional optimization and automatic segmentation
Jinghan HUANG ; Maidina BATUER ; Chuanghui ZHOU ; Zhi ZHANG ; Limei DENG ; Yuan XU ; Junyuan ZHONG ; Linghong ZHOU ; Xia LI ; Genggeng QIN
Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology 2025;34(4):355-362
Objective:To investigate the feasibility and optimal expansion width of replacing the left anterior descending coronary artery (LADCA) with the region of heart sparing (RHS) to reduce cardiac radiation dose during breast cancer radiotherapy.Methods:Retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 88 patients with left-sided breast cancer who underwent radiotherapy at 2 centers: Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University (50 cases for the training set, 15 cases for the internal test set) and Ganzhou Hospital of Nanfang Hospital (23 cases for the external test set) from March 2022 to January 2024. All patients had left-sided invasive ductal carcinoma with axillary lymph node metastasis, and had undergone modified radical mastectomy and chemotherapy. Based on simulation CT images, 2 radiation oncologists delineated the LADCA and 8 RHSs. The RHSs were delineated by expanding the LADCA contour by 0.5 cm increments, totaling 8 expansions. The RHS widths were defined as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 cm. The nnU-Net model was trained for 3D automatic segmentation of the LADCA and RHSs. Model performance was evaluated using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), relative volume error (RVE), sensitivity, specificity, and 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95). Additionally, the minimum, maximum, and average relative dose variations (RDV) as well as V5% and V20% indicators were calculated for the LADCA and each RHS. Correlation analysis was performed using the least squares regression, with the slope and coefficient of determination ( R2) employed to evaluate the accuracy of the model fitting, the relationship between the LADCA and RHS, and the degree of their correlation, thereby assessing the substitutive effect of the RHS for the LADCA. Results:The DSC for the LADCA was 0.415, while the DSCs for RHS widths of 0.5 cm and 4.0 cm were 0.718 and 0.835, respectively. Overall, the automatic segmentation performance improved with increasing RHS width. The DSC, RVE, sensitivity, specificity, and HD95 for the external test set were largely consistent with those of the internal test set, demonstrating the model's good robustness across different datasets. All RDVmin values were negative, while RDVmax and RDVmean showed a positive correlation with RHS width. RDVmean increased from 39.01% to 75.89% as the RHS width increased. In the correlation analysis, the slopes for RHS widths of 1.5 cm and 2.0 cm were 0.95 and 1.05, respectively, with R2 values and coefficients of variation of 0.79 and 0.73, and 21.11% and 24.03%, respectively. Conclusions:The automatic segmentation model trained on nnU-Net can accurately segment RHSs. Based on geometric and dosimetric indicators, a 1.5 cm-wide RHS is the most suitable substitute for the LADCA, effectively limiting the radiation dose to the LADCA without compromising target dose coverage.


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