Stroke is a critical health issue in China, and carotid artery stenosis and plaque play key roles in its prevalence. Despite the acknowledged significance of this condition, detailed information regarding the prevalence of carotid artery stenosis and plaque across the Chinese population has been scarce. This study analyzed data from the China Stroke High-risk Population Screening and Intervention Program for 2020-2021, focusing on 194 878 Chinese adults aged 40 years and above. It assessed the prevalence of carotid artery stenosis and plaque and identified their associated risk factors. Results revealed a standardized prevalence of 0.40% for carotid artery stenosis and 36.27% for carotid plaque. Notably, the highest rates of stenosis were observed in north and south China at 0.61%, while southwestern China exhibited the highest plaque prevalence at 43.17%. Key risk factors included older age, male gender, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. This study highlights significant geographical and demographic disparities in the prevalence of these conditions, underlining the urgent need for targeted interventions and policy reforms. These measures are essential for reducing the incidence of stroke and improving patient outcomes, addressing this significant health challenge in China.
Humans ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Prevalence ; Middle Aged ; Carotid Stenosis/epidemiology* ; Risk Factors ; Aged ; Adult ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic/epidemiology* ; Stroke/epidemiology* ; Aged, 80 and over

Objective To conduct a network meta-analysis on the effectiveness of first-line immunotherapy on patients with brain metastases from advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods Two investigators conducted a computerized search of Pubmed,Embase,Cochrane,and other databases to screen the literature,extract the information,and assess the risk of bias of the included studies.The included clinical trials were statistically analyzed using R(4.1.3)software.For the study outcome indicators OS and PFS,the risk ratios(HRs),and the 95%confidence intervals(CIs)were extracted from the included studies and logarithmically transformed into effect analysis statistics.Results Six randomized controlled trials were finally included,including 327 patients with non-excludable NSCLC brain metastases.Network meta-analysis suggested that PD-1 inhibitor+CTLA-4 was more advantageous than the conventional chemotherapy for enhancing patients'OS(HR:0.13,95%CI:0.03-0.71),followed by PD-L1 inhibitor(HR:0.17,95%CI:0.04-0.74)and PD-1 inhibitor+chemotherapy(HR:0.36,95%CI:0.2-0.63).PD-1 inhibitor+CTLA-4 was also more advantageous(HR:0.37,95%CI:0.15-0.93)than the conventional chemotherapy for boosting patients'PFS,followed by PD-L1 inhibitor+chemotherapy(HR:0.44,95%CI:0.29-0.66)and PD-1 inhibitor(HR:0.48,95%CI:0.27-0.86).Conclusion Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy improves the survival of patients with brain metastases from advanced NSCLC.In particular,the combination of PD-1 inhibitor and CTLA-4 inhibitor show excellent survival benefit.

Objective:To explore the application value of multimodal MRI imaging in early neurological deterioration (END) and clinical prognosis prediction of acute ischemic stroke (AIS).Methods:A total of 200 AIS patients admitted to the Chengde Central Hospital from October 2019 to October 2022 were selected as the study subjects. Based on whether END occurred within 7 days of enrollment, there were 40 cases in the occurrence group and 160 cases in the non occurrence group. The influencing factors of END occurrence in AIS patients and the predictive value of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters on END were analyzed; According to the modified Rankin (mRS) score, patients were divided into good prognosis and poor prognosis groups, and the impact of multimodal MRI imaging parameters on the risk of poor prognosis in AIS patients was analyzed.Results:There were statistically significant differences in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and their differences before and after thrombolysis in multimodal MRI imaging parameters between the END group and the non END group, as well as in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission, age, and time from onset to admission (all P<0.05). The difference between ADC and CBF before and after thrombolysis, time from onset to admission, NIHSS score at admission, and age were all independent influencing factors for the occurrence of END in AIS patients (all P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of the combined prediction of the difference between ADC and CBF before and after thrombolysis for the occurrence of END in AIS patients was 0.924, which was higher than that predicted by a single indicator ( P<0.05). The incidence of poor prognosis in patients with END was significantly higher than that in patients without END ( P<0.05). The risk of poor prognosis in AIS patients with a difference of less than <45.83×10 -9 mm 2/s before and after ADC thrombolysis was 3.136 times higher than that in patients with ≥45.83×10 -6 mm 2/s. The risk of poor prognosis in AIS patients with a difference of less than 10.52 ml/(min·100 g) before and after ADC thrombolysis was 2.640 times higher than that in patients with ≥10.52 ml/(min·100 g). Conclusions:Multimodal MRI imaging can be used for END evaluation in AIS patients and can provide reference for clinical prognosis evaluation.

Objective:To elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy subtypes by analyzing the gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from anti-MDA5 antibody-positive and anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive myositis patients.Methods:Gene expression profiling screening and analysis of PBMCs from 12 anti-MDA5 positive, 16 anti-Jo-1 positive myositis patients and 43 healthy controls were performed using Illumina HT-12 v4 expression profiling microarrays. Applying the unpaired t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction, the genes with the absolute value of fold change (FC) in gene expression signal ≥2 and adjusted P<0.05 were selected as differentially expressed genes. Differential gene sets were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, with P<0.05 as the threshold for being significantly enriched. Validation of differentially expressed genes by real time-PCR. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test the normality of continuous variables. If the distribution was normal and the variance was homogeneous, analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was used.If the distribution was not normal, Kruskal-Wallis test was used, and P<0.05 was regarded as statistically significant difference. Results:Analysis of gene expression profiles of PBMCs from patients with positive anti-MDA5 and anti-Jo-1 antibody revealed significant differences in gene expression of PBMCs from patients with the two myositis subtypes. The number of differentially expressed genes that specifically up-regulated in anti-MDA5 antibody positive patients was 407, and the GO functional enrichment analysis was mainly enriched in biological processes such as innate immune response ( P<0.001), response to virus ( P<0.001) and type Ⅰ interferon signaling pathway ( P<0.001), and the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was mainly enriched in the viral infection-associated pathway ( P<0.001), RIG-Ⅰ like receptor signaling pathway ( P<0.001) and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway ( P=0.002), etc. The 259 differential genes specifically down-regulated in the anti-MDA5 antibody positive group were mainly enriched in biological processes such as immune response ( P=0.006), TGF-β receptor signaling pathway ( P=0.010) and natural killer cell mediated immunity ( P=0.015) in GO functional enrichment analysis. There were 162 differentially expressed genes up-regulated specifically in anti-Jo-1 antibody positive patients, and GO functional enrichment analysis was mainly enriched in biological processes such as nucleosome assembly ( P<0.001), negative regulation of cell growth ( P=0.001), negative regulation of apoptotic process P=0.004), and innate immune response in mucosa ( P=0.012), and the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis mainly enriched in metabolic-related signaling pathways ( P<0.001) and immune-related pathways ( P<0.001), etc. Real-time PCR confirmed that IFIH1 ( P=0.037), ISG15 ( P=0.003), and DDX58 ( P=0.032) in the RIG-Ⅰ-like receptor pathway as well as chemokines MCP-1 ( P=0.003), MCP-2 ( P<0.001), and transcription factor BATF2 ( P=0.002), and inflammatory signaling pathway-associated MYD88 ( P<0.001) were highly expressed in PBMCs from anti-MDA5 antibody-positive myositis patients. Conclusion:The gene expression profile of PBMCs in anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients suggests that the pathogenesis of patients with anti-MDA 5 antibody positive is closely related to biological processes such as innate immune response, viral infection, and interferon response.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell(MSC)in children with aplastic anemia(AA)in vitro,and the expressions of tumor necrosis factor -α-induced protein -8 -like 2(TIPE2)in the bone marrow,and the correlation between the level of TIPE2 mRNA with γ-interferon(IFN -γ)and IL -6 in AA patients.Methods Bone marrow samples were collected from 1 8 children with AA(AA group)and 8 children with bone injury (control group)who were hospitalized in Jinan Children′s Hospital from January 201 2 to June 201 5.MSC were isolated and cultured.The morphology of MSC was observed and immune phenotype was detected.The TIPE2 mRNA was detected by using real -time fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the levels of IFN -γand IL -6 were detected by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Results Different sizes had been presented in the primi-tive MSC of AA patients,but the third passage MSC until 80% confluence had manifested the uniform convergence with long spindle and swirl distribution.In the sixth passage,cells showed degenerative change.The primitive and first pa-ssage MSC in patients with AA was longer than that in the controls.CD73 ,CD1 05 ,CD44 and CD90 were expressed in MSC,while CD34 ,CD45 ,CD271 expressed rarely.The level of TIPE2 mRNA in AA patients (5.29 ±1 .56)was obviously lower than that of the control group(8.68 ±2.00),and the difference was significant(t =-4.48,P <0.01 ).The con-centration of IFN -γ[(5.48 ±1 .97)ng/L]and IL -6[(5.43 ±1 .92)ng/L]in AA patients were higher than those of the control group[(3.40 ±1 .24)ng/L,(3.79 ±0.92)ng/L],and the differences were significant (t =2.70, 2.26,all P <0.05).The level of TIPE2 mRNA in AA patients was negatively related with IFN -γand IL -6(r =-0.838,-0.658,all P <0.05),but there was no significant correlation between them in the control group (all P >0.05).Conclusions The proliferation of MSC is significantly reduced in patients with AA.TIPE2,as an important role to stabilize the immune system,plays an important role in the occurrence of AA by its low expression and up -regula-ting the expression of inflammatory factors.