OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dynamic changes of glucocorticoid (GC) dose and the feasibility of GC discontinuation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients under the background of Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 1,196 RA patients enrolled in the China Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry of Patients with Chinese Medicine (CERTAIN) from September 1, 2019 to December 4, 2023, who initiated GC therapy. Participants were divided into the Western medicine (WM) and integrative medicine (IM, combination of CM and WM) groups based on medication regimen. Follow-up was performed at least every 3 months to assess dynamic changes in GC dose. Changes in GC dose were analyzed by generalized estimator equation, the probability of GC discontinuation was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curve, and predictors of GC discontinuation were analyzed by Cox regression. Patients with <12 months of follow-up were excluded for the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,196 patients (85.4% female; median age 56.4 years), 880 (73.6%) received IM. Over a median 12-month follow-up, 34.3% (410 cases) discontinued GC, with significantly higher rates in the IM group (40.8% vs. 16.1% in WM; P<0.05). GC dose declined progressively, with IM patients demonstrating faster reductions (median 3.75 mg vs. 5.00 mg in WM at 12 months; P<0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis identified age <60 years [P<0.001, hazard ratios (HR)=2.142, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.523-3.012], IM therapy (P=0.001, HR=2.175, 95% CI: 1.369-3.456), baseline GC dose ⩽7.5 mg (P=0.003, HR=1.637, 95% CI: 1.177-2.275), and absence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use (P=0.001, HR=2.546, 95% CI: 1.432-4.527) as significant predictors of GC discontinuation. Sensitivity analysis (545 cases) confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS RA patients receiving CM face difficulties in following guideline-recommended GC discontinuation protocols. IM can promote GC discontinuation and is a promising strategy to reduce GC dependency in RA management. (Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT05219214).
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To investigate the effect of dorsal repulsive axon guidance protein(Draxin)on the migration of trunk neural crest cells during the early development of embryonic mouse spinal cord.Methods Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were used to detect the expression characteristics of Draxin in early embryonic spinal cord(8 mice each group);In situ hybridization was used to detect the change of migration characteristics of trunk neural crest cells in early embryonic spinal cord of different types of mouse(5 mice each group);in vitro culture method was used to check the effect of Draxin on the migration characteristics of embryonic mouse trunk neural crest cells(16 mice each group).Resultsβ-galactosidase gene Z(LacZ)gene was introduced when Draxin gene was knocked out to produce Draxin gene knockout mice.β-galactosidase staining was used to detect LacZ gene expression in Draxin knockout embryonic mice,and the result showed that Draxin expression was observed in the spinal cord of early embryonic mice since 9.5 days(E9.5).Draxin expression was obvious in the embryonic mice spinal cord in E10.5 period.In situ hybridization was used to detect the expression of Draxin gene in the spinal cord of wild type embryonic mice,and the result further verified the obvious expression of Draxin in the early embryonic mice spinal cord in El0.5 period.Sox10 in situ hybridization was used to detect neural crest cell migration in the spinal cord of embryonic mice in E10.5 period.The result showed that segmental migration of neural crest cells in the early embryonic spinal cord of some Draxin knockout mice was delayed compared with the wild type mice.The effect of Draxin on the migration of wild type early embryonic mice trunk neural crest cells in vitro was tested.The result showed that Draxin reduced the migration distance of neural crest cells in vitro.Conclusion In the early developmental stage of embryonic spinal cord(E9.5-E10.5),neural crest cells migrated exuberant.At the same time,Draxin plays an important inhibitory function in the formation of the specific migration pathways of trunk neural crest cells by promoting neural crest cells migrating away from Draxin expressing regions.

ObjectiveTo systematically compare the chemical compositional differences between Puerariae Thomsonii stem base（PTSB） and Puerariae Thomsonii Radix（PTR）， and to explore the potential hepatoprotective effects of PTSB by liver metabolomics. MethodUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS） was used to analyze the chemical compositions of PTSB and PTR. Twenty Kunming mice aged 6-8 weeks， half male and half female， were randomly divided into the blank group（sterile water） and PTSB group（1.95 g·kg^-1）， with 10 mice in each group， and the drug was administered by gavage for 14 d， and the body mass was weighed once a day. After the last administration， mice were anesthetized， organs such as heart， liver， spleen， lungs and kidneys were collected， and the organ index was calculated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was used to measure the levels of aspartate aminotransferase（AST）， alanine aminotransferase（ALT）， total cholesterol（TC） and triglyceride（TG） in the serum of mice from each group， the morphological changes of heart， liver， spleen， lung and kidney tissues were observed by hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining， and the regulation of PTSB for the hepatic metabolic profiles of mice was analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS， then the differential metabolites between the blank group and PTSB group were designated， and the metabolic pathways was enriched by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG）. ResultA total of 19 common chemical constituents were identified from PTSB and PTR， all of which were the main pharmacodynamic substances of PTR. The pharmacodynamic results showed that PTSB could control the growth of body mass of mice and reduce the contents of TC， TG， ALT and AST in serum of mice. HE staining observations and organ indexes showed that there was no significant effect of PTSB on all major organs at the highest clinically equivalent dose. A total of 38 differential metabolites were identified by metabolomics， of which 35 were up-regulated and 3 were down-regulated. These differential metabolites were mainly compounds such as amino acids， fatty acids， vitamins， steroids， nucleosides， pyrimidines and alkaloids. Three key metabolic pathways， including tyrosine metabolism， vitamin B₆ metabolism and tryptophan metabolism， were screened by metabolic pathway analysis. ConclusionPTSB has a similar chemical composition to that of PTR， and it may regulate the metabolism of amino acids and vitamins through the flavonoids and isoflavonoids， thus exerting a potential hepatoprotective effect. This study provides an experimental reference for the clinical application and product development of PTSB.

Neck dissection(ND)is one of the main treatment methods for oral and maxillofacial malignancies.Although ND type is in con-stant improvement,but intraoperative peal-pull-push injury of the accessory nerve,muscle,muscle membrane,fascia and ligament induced shoulder syndrome(SS)is still a common postoperative complication,combined with the influence of radiochemotherapy,not only can cause pain,stiffness,numbness,limited dysfunction of shoulder neck and arm,but also may have serious impact on patient's life quality and phys-ical and mental health.At present,there is still a lack of a systematic evaluation and rehabilitation management program for postoperative SS of oral and maxillofacial malignant tumors.Based on the previous clinical practice and the current available evidence,refer to the relevant lit-erature at home and abroad,the experts in the field of maxillofacial tumor surgery and rehabilitation were invited to discuss,modify and reach a consenusus on the etiology,assessment diagnosis,differential diagnosis,rehabilitation strategy and prevention of SS,in order to provide clinical reference.

Objective:To establish a nucleic acid detection and genotyping method for Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( Mp) based on nucleic acid in clinical samples. Methods:Through genomic comparison, the specific target sequences of Genotype 1 and Genotype 2 Mp strains were selected to design synthetic primers and probes, and a PCR detection and classification method for Mp dual fluorescent probe was established, and the specificity, accuracy, detection limit and repeatability of the method were evaluated. The established fluorescence PCR method was used to detect the nucleic acid of clinical specimens and compared with the reported fluorescent PCR methods. Results:The nucleic acid of 18 pathogens, including other species of Mycoplasma and common respiratory bacteria and viruses, which were closely related to the Mp species, were detected, and the results showed that there was no cross-reactivity. The accuracy of detection and typing of 90 Mp nucleic acid was 100%. The detection limits of Genotype 1 and Genotype 2 Mp samples were 1.0 copy/μl, and the experimental coefficient of variation of repeatability within groups and between groups was less than 2.5%. In the detection of 88 nucleic acid of clinical specimens, the Kappa value was 0.675 and the P value was 0.267 compared with the reported real-time PCR method, showing a high degree of agreement. Conclusions:The method for detecting and genotyping Mp in this study has high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, which can be applied to the monitoring and prevention and control of Mp in the disease control system of provinces and cities at all levels in China. This method promotes the improvement of the Mp prevention and control system in China, strengthens the surveillance ability, and is of great significance for the early warning and prediction of Mp.

Objective:To analyze the compliance with enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol in geriatric patients with fresh fracture.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on the data of the patients with fresh extremity fracture which had been included in the ERAS perioperative protocol database during May 2019 and January 2022 at Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. The patients ≥65 years were selected as a study group which was matched by a control group of the patients < 65 years in sex, fracture type and date frame of hospitalization at a ratio of 1∶1. The 2 groups were compared in the compliance with the 14 ERAS core perioperative elements.Results:The study group and the control group each included 66 patients who were matched in sex and fracture type. 62.1% (41/66) of the patients in the study group had combined diseases, significantly more than that [16.7% (11/66)] in the control group( P<0.001). Altogether, the compliance with the 14 ERAS core perioperative elements was 78.6 (71.4, 85.7) % in both groups, showing no significant difference between them ( P>0.05). Respectively, the compliance with the postoperative oral intake in the study group (80.3%, 53/66) was significantly lower than that in the control group (92.4%, 61/66) ( P<0.05); the compliance with the other 13 elements showed no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The ERAS perioperative protocol can be carried out smoothly in geriatric patients with fresh fracture whose compliance may be comparable to that of the none-elderly patients.

Objective:To explore the characteristics and clinical values of preoperative imaging signs and intraoperative stress test in the surgery of the Weber type B fracture without medial malleolar fracture.Methods:The data of 52 patients were reviewed who had been treated at Orthopaedic Trauma Department, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital for Weber type B ankle fracture without medial malleolar fracture from January 2018 to December 2021.They were assigned into 2 groups depending on their results of intraoperative stress test. In the positive group of 21 cases showing a positive intraoperative stress test, there were 19 males and 2 females with an age of (34.4±10.2) years; in the negative group of 31 cases showing a negative intra operative stress test, there were 22 males and 9 females with an age of (39.5±14.8) years. The 2 groups were compared in terms of the medial clear space, tibiofibular clear space and vertical length of the fibular fracture on the preoperative X-ray film, as well as the relative size of the posterior malleolar fracture fragment on the preoperative CT. The imaging characteristics of intraoperative stress tests were also observed.Results:There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the preoperative general data, showing comparability between groups ( P>0.05). The medial clear space (7.2±2.5) mm and the vertical length of the fibular fracture [49.2 (33.7, 58.7) mm] in the positive group were significantly larger than those in the negative group [(4.5±1.7) mm and 29.6 (24.7, 36.0) mm] ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the lower tibiofibular space [(6.0±1.9) mm versus (5.2 ± 1.4) mm] or in the relative size of posterior malleolar fracture measured by CT [15.8% (6.9%, 19.1%) versus 12.7% (0%, 18.9%)] ( P>0.05). The intraoperative stress test imaging data of a total of 22 cases were collected from the 2 groups (11 cases from each of the 2 groups). During the stress test, only the medial clear space was widened with no widening of the inferior tibiofibular space was found in 7 cases (5 cases in the positive group and 2 cases in the negative group). Conclusions:A routine stress test is recommended for Weber B ankle fracture without medial malleolus fracture, because instability sometimes exists after fibular fixation. Patients with a wider medial clear space and a longer fibular fracture line on X-ray after injury are more likely to be afflicted by instability after fibular fixation. In the patients with a widened medial clear space but without a widened inferior tibiofibular clear space during an intraoperative stress test, it calls for further study whether it is necessary to fix the inferior tibiofibular joint.

To construct a non-communicable disease system recommended by WHO, develop the key techniques and promote their applications, obtain the main health indicators and understand the prevalence of chronic diseases, and provide support for the prevention, control and research of chronic diseases. Based on factor analysis, K-means clustering and multi-cluster random sampling, 30 typical sampling areas at provincial level were designed and constructed; By referring to WHO's Non-communicable Disease Surveillance Framework and the American behavioral risk factor sampling and questionnaire and combined with China's actual needs, a comprehensive surveillance system for chronic diseases, covering morbidity and mortality, risk factor exposure and community management and control of chronic diseases, was established, a "5+12+1" quality control system for surveillance data collection, management, analysis and feedback was formed and a three-level surveillance information management platform and information technology construction standards in the province were established, resulting the integration of life registration, chronic disease case reporting and community chronic disease management. Using these key techniques, we have obtained high-quality surveillance data of the whole province, produced the main health indicators, carried out research of chronic diseases, and analyze the prevalence and changing trend of the main chronic diseases and related risk factors to boost the government's practical projects for the reform of the people's livelihood and facilitate the construction of "Healthy Zhejiang". The successful experiences and key techniques have been applied in the construction of chronic disease surveillance system in some provinces in China.
China/epidemiology* ; Chronic Disease ; Chronic Disease Indicators ; Humans ; Noncommunicable Diseases ; Prevalence

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of automated classification of ICD-O-3 morphology code from pathology reports by text-mining and support vector machine ( SVM ) , in order to provide basis for automated tumor coding in Chinese. Methods: The tumor report cards of Zhejiang residents from 2017 to 2019 were collected from Chronic Disease Surveillance Information Management System of Zhejiang Province. According to ICD-O-3, the keywords of the pathology reports were extracted, and SVM was used for automatic classification. The classification results were compared with those of 16 professionals with more than two years of experience in tumor coding, and the accuracy rate, recall rate and F-score were calculated for effect evaluation. Results: Totally 83 082 cases from 2017 to 2019 were included and were categorized into 17 morphological classifications, with 52 877 ( 63.65% ) cases of adenocarcinoma, squamous carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. A total of 1 090 keywords were enrolled into main corpus. The total F-score, accuracy rate and recall rate are 85.69, 77.20% and 96.27%, respectively. Conclusion Text-mining combined with SVM can improve the efficiency of ICD-O-3 morphology coding; however, the accuracy needs to be further improved.

Objective:To evaluate the correlation of community management index of essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes with the probability of premature mortality of major chronic diseases.Methods:From 2016 to 2018, the management of essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes were obtained from annual report of comprehensive prevention and control of chronic diseases in communities of Zhejiang province. The death data of chronic diseases were obtained from Information Management System of Chronic Diseases of Zhejiang province and annual population data were obtained from Public Security Bureau of Zhejiang Province. The management of essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes in communities of Zhejiang Province from 2016 to 2018 was described. The death status of major chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, malignant tumors, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, in the same period was also described. Spearman correlation analysis and linear regression model were used to explore the correlation of community management of essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes with the probability of premature mortality of major chronic diseases.Results:The number of essential hypertension patients under standardized management, blood pressure control and regular medication increased from 3.127 3, 2.811 5 and 3.569 7 million in 2016 to 3.355 9, 3.151 8 and 4.010 6 million in 2018, respectively. The number of type 2 diabetes patients with standardized management, blood glucose control and regular medication increased from 0.805 5, 0.687 5 and 0.913 4 million in 2016 to 0.912 6, 0.798 7 and 1.064 8 million in 2018, respectively. The standardized mortality rate of chronic diseases decreased from 403.07/100 000 in 2016 to 380.07/100 000 in 2018. The proportion of premature deaths of chronic diseases decreased from 28.39% in 2016 to 26.90% in 2018. The proportion of deaths from major chronic diseases in all chronic diseases decreased from 90.96% in 2016 to 90.69% in 2018.The probability of premature mortality decreased from 10.68% in 2016 to 9.67% in 2018. The spearman correlation analysis showed that the blood pressure control and regular drug use were negatively correlated with the probability of premature death of major chronic diseases ( r values were -0.367 and -0.392; P values were 0.035 and 0.024). According to the linear regression model analysis, with increase of 100 000 of essential hypertension control cases or regular medication use cases of type 2 diabetes, the probability of premature death of major chronic diseases decreased by 0.47% (95% CI: 0.39%, 0.54%) or 1.31% (95% CI: 1.12%, 1.50%), respectively. Conclusion:From 2016 to 2018, the community management of essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes was negatively correlated with probability of premature death of major chronic diseases in Zhejiang province.