Autoimmune uveitis is a blinding intraocular inflammation primarily caused by immune dysregulation mediated by CD4+ T cells. CD4+ T cells differentiate into various functional subsets, including Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells. These subsets participate in immune responses and mediate the initiation and resolution of inflammation by secreting different cytokines. This article primarily focuses on the functional characteristics and interplay network of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg cells, along with the specific effects of their key secreted cytokines(e.g., IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-17, IL-10, TGF-β)in driving or suppressing ocular inflammation. The goal is to clarify the fundamental pathogenesis of this disease from the perspective of immune balance. Furthermore, this work explores potential therapeutic targets based on restoring the balance between Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg, such as modulating the differentiation of specific subsets, blocking key pro-inflammatory cytokines, or enhancing anti-inflammatory functions. This investigation aims to provide a scientific rationale and guidance for optimizing existing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, as well as developing new immunotherapies(e.g., biological agents, cell therapies).

Since its establishment in 2016, the National Rare Diseases Registry System of China (NRDRS) has accumulated valuable case data and bio-specimen for basic and clinical research on rare diseases in China. However, the emerging challenges in clinical diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases make it unable for data and resource platform to fully meet the diversified needs. Under this backdrop, we have developed a protocol to optimize and upgrade the system based on the core functions of the NRDRS platform. The goal is to leverage intelligent digital technologies to transform NRDRS into a new platform integrating multimodal data and auxiliary diagnostic and treatment functions. It is specified as the development and construction of "one platform and four intelligent tools." Currently, we have upgraded and developed NRDRS platform, intelligent tool for genotype-phenotype analysis of rare diseases, AI-assisted diagnostic tool for rare diseases, remote multidisciplinary diagnosis and teaching tool for rare diseases, drug screening and validation tool for rare diseases. The next step will focus on the promotion of the application of these tools in clinical settings in order to address the issue of severe imbalance in the allocation of resources for the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases. This article provides an overview of the digital and intelligent upgrades of the NRDRS, the trials in applications in clinical settings, and direction in the future.

Objective:To explore the application effect of comfort-based light sedation strategy nursing model in early rehabilitation exercises for critically ill patients after gastrointestinal surgery, aiming to provide a reference for the recovery of patients after gastrointestinal surgery.Methods:A randomized controlled trial was conducted using purposive sampling to select 110 critically ill patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery from July 2022 to December 2023 in the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Shantou Central Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned into the control group and the observation group, with 55 cases in each group. The control group received routine sedation care, while the observation group adopted a comfort-based light sedation strategy nursing model. The NRS (Digital Rating Scale for Pain), RASS (Rationalizing Self-Assessment Scale), SAS (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale), analgesic and sedative drug usage, postoperative bowel sounds, flatus, and defecation onset time, ICU length of stay, delirium incidence, postoperative 24-hour MRC muscle strength score, and discharge Modified Barthel Index (MBI) scores were compared between the two groups at 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours postoperatively.Results:During the study, 5 cases dropped out from both the observation and control groups, leaving 50 cases each complete. The control group consisted of 32 males and 18 females, with an average age of (66.94 ± 14.39) years; the observation group consisted of 34 males and 16 females, with an average age of (68.01 ± 14.76) years. At 8, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours postoperatively, the NRS scores for the observation group were (3.11 ± 0.58), (3.14 ± 0.53), (3.09 ± 0.56), (2.97 ± 0.50), and (2.48 ± 0.45), respectively, were all lower than those of the control group (3.55 ± 0.61), (3.46 ± 0.59), (3.42 ± 0.62), (3.38 ± 0.54), (2.87 ± 0.53), with statistically significant differences ( t values were 2.80 - 3.97, all P<0.05). The RASS scores at postoperative 8, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours were (- 1.42 ± 0.43), (- 1.41 ± 0.42), (- 1.39 ± 0.44), (- 1.36 ± 0.41), (- 1.32 ± 0.40) respectively, compared to the control group (- 1.85 ± 0.47), (- 1.78 ± 0.44), (- 1.81 ± 0.50), (- 1.80 ± 0.48), (- 1.68 ± 0.45), with statistically significant differences ( t values were 4.23 - 4.93, all P<0.05). The SAS scores at postoperative 48, 72, 96 hours were (49.68 ± 4.55), (48.69 ± 4.41), (46.71 ± 4.33) respectively, compared to the control group (53.75 ± 4.76), (53.13 ± 4.69), (52.84 ± 4.51), with statistically significant differences ( t = 4.37, 4.89, 6.93, all P<0.05); the propofol dosage in the observation group (3 228.52 ± 587.78) mg and the dexmedetomidine dosage (1 205.58 ± 311.46) μg were all lower than those of the control group (4 056.77 ± 638.04) mg and (1 650.77 ± 432.69) μg, with statistically significant differences ( t = 6.75, 5.92, both P<0.05). The start time of bowel sounds in the observation group was (18.63 ± 5.96) hours, the start time of flatus was (1.42 ± 0.57) days, and the start time of defecation was (2.02 ± 1.25) days. The ICU hospitalization duration of the observation group (5.54 ± 1.51) days was shorter than that of the control group (7.36 ± 1.89) days, with differences being statistically significant ( t values were 2.71 - 5.32, all P<0.05). The postoperative delirium incidence rate of the observation group was 8.00% (4/50) lower than that of the control group 24.00% (12/50), with differences being statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.76, P<0.05). The postoperative 24-hour MRC muscle strength score (5.34 ± 0.58) and the discharge MBI score (77.56 ± 11.34) in the observation group were both significantly higher than those of the control group (4.79 ± 0.65) and (68.25 ± 10.47), respectively ( t = 4.46, 4.27, both P<0.05). Conclusions:The comfort-oriented light sedation strategy nursing model can improve the postoperative sedation and analgesia effects for ICU gastrointestinal surgery patients, promote gastrointestinal function recovery, shorten ICU hospital stay, reduce delirium incidence, and accelerate patient postoperative recovery.

Soil cadmium pollution can adversely affect the cultivation of the ornamental plant, Coleus scutellarioides. Upon cadmium contamination of the soil, the growth of C. scutellarioides is impeded, and it may even succumb to the toxic accumulation of cadmium. In this study, we investigated the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the adaptation of C. scutellarioides to cadmium stress, by measuring the physiological metabolism and the degree of root damage of C. scutellarioides, with Aspergillus oryzae as the test fungi. The results indicated that cadmium stress increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline (Pro) within the cells of C. scutellarioides, but inhibited mycorrhizal infestation rate, root vigour and growth rate to a great degree. With the same cadmium concentration, the inoculation of AMF significantly improved the physiological indexes of C. scutellarioides. The maximum decrease of MDA content was 42.16%, and the content of secondary metabolites rosemarinic acid and anthocyanosides could be increased by up to 27.43% and 25.72%, respectively. Meanwhile, the increase of root vigour was as high as 35.35%, and the DNA damage of the root system was obviously repaired. In conclusion, the inoculation of AMF can promote the accumulation of secondary metabolites, alleviate root damage, and enhance the tolerance to cadmium stress in C. scutellarioides.
Cadmium/toxicity* ; Mycorrhizae/physiology* ; Plant Roots/drug effects* ; Soil Pollutants/toxicity* ; Stress, Physiological ; Superoxide Dismutase/metabolism*

Objective:To investigate the risk factors and construct a nomogram prediction model for neonatal bacterial meningitis (BM).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 1 228 neonates who underwent lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid examination in the Department of Neonatology at Gansu Provincial Women and Child Healthcare Hospital from December 2019 to February 2024. The subjects were randomly divided into a training cohort and a validation cohort at a ratio of 7∶3 using a computer program. Rank sum test or Chi-square tests were used to compare differences between the two cohorts. The subjects were divided into BM and non-BM groups based on the presence or absence of BM. Multivariate logistic regression analysis (forward stepwise regression method) was used in the training cohort to identify risk factors for BM. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to assess the discrimination and calibration of the model, respectively. Calibration curves were used to evaluate the accuracy of the model and to construct the nomogram. Internal validation was performed using the Bootstrap resampling method. Decision curve analysis was used to assess the clinical utility of the model. Results:Among the 1 228 neonates, 151 (12.3%) had BM. The training cohort included 859 neonates, of whom 106 (12.3%) had BM and 753 (87.7%) did not. The validation cohort included 369 neonates, of whom 45 (12.2%) had BM and 324 (87.8%) did not. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis in the training cohort showed that sepsis ( OR=4.446, 95% CI:2.583-7.653), convulsions ( OR=3.749, 95% CI:1.930-7.280), high maximum body temperature ( OR=2.027, 95% CI:1.636-2.513), and elevated C-reactive protein ( OR=1.007, 95% CI:1.003-1.012) were independent risk factors for BM, while greater gestational age at birth ( OR=0.946, 95% CI: 0.898-0.995) and higher hemoglobin levels ( OR=0.990, 95% CI:0.981-0.998) were protective factors for BM (all P<0.05). Based on these findings, a nomogram prediction model for neonatal BM was constructed and validated for accuracy. The AUC values of the nomogram model in the training and validation cohorts were 0.796 (95% CI: 0.750-0.843) and 0.781 (95% CI: 0.700-0.862), respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test showed P>0.05 in both cohorts. The clinical decision curve analysis demonstrated good net benefit across most threshold ranges. Conclusions:Sepsis, convulsions, high maximum body temperature, and elevated C-reactive protein increase the risk of neonatal BM. The nomogram model constructed based on these factors, combined with gestational age and hemoglobin levels, provides a reference value for predicting the risk of neonatal BM.

Objective:To explore the application effect of comfort-based light sedation strategy nursing model in early rehabilitation exercises for critically ill patients after gastrointestinal surgery, aiming to provide a reference for the recovery of patients after gastrointestinal surgery.Methods:A randomized controlled trial was conducted using purposive sampling to select 110 critically ill patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery from July 2022 to December 2023 in the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Shantou Central Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned into the control group and the observation group, with 55 cases in each group. The control group received routine sedation care, while the observation group adopted a comfort-based light sedation strategy nursing model. The NRS (Digital Rating Scale for Pain), RASS (Rationalizing Self-Assessment Scale), SAS (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale), analgesic and sedative drug usage, postoperative bowel sounds, flatus, and defecation onset time, ICU length of stay, delirium incidence, postoperative 24-hour MRC muscle strength score, and discharge Modified Barthel Index (MBI) scores were compared between the two groups at 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours postoperatively.Results:During the study, 5 cases dropped out from both the observation and control groups, leaving 50 cases each complete. The control group consisted of 32 males and 18 females, with an average age of (66.94 ± 14.39) years; the observation group consisted of 34 males and 16 females, with an average age of (68.01 ± 14.76) years. At 8, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours postoperatively, the NRS scores for the observation group were (3.11 ± 0.58), (3.14 ± 0.53), (3.09 ± 0.56), (2.97 ± 0.50), and (2.48 ± 0.45), respectively, were all lower than those of the control group (3.55 ± 0.61), (3.46 ± 0.59), (3.42 ± 0.62), (3.38 ± 0.54), (2.87 ± 0.53), with statistically significant differences ( t values were 2.80 - 3.97, all P<0.05). The RASS scores at postoperative 8, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours were (- 1.42 ± 0.43), (- 1.41 ± 0.42), (- 1.39 ± 0.44), (- 1.36 ± 0.41), (- 1.32 ± 0.40) respectively, compared to the control group (- 1.85 ± 0.47), (- 1.78 ± 0.44), (- 1.81 ± 0.50), (- 1.80 ± 0.48), (- 1.68 ± 0.45), with statistically significant differences ( t values were 4.23 - 4.93, all P<0.05). The SAS scores at postoperative 48, 72, 96 hours were (49.68 ± 4.55), (48.69 ± 4.41), (46.71 ± 4.33) respectively, compared to the control group (53.75 ± 4.76), (53.13 ± 4.69), (52.84 ± 4.51), with statistically significant differences ( t = 4.37, 4.89, 6.93, all P<0.05); the propofol dosage in the observation group (3 228.52 ± 587.78) mg and the dexmedetomidine dosage (1 205.58 ± 311.46) μg were all lower than those of the control group (4 056.77 ± 638.04) mg and (1 650.77 ± 432.69) μg, with statistically significant differences ( t = 6.75, 5.92, both P<0.05). The start time of bowel sounds in the observation group was (18.63 ± 5.96) hours, the start time of flatus was (1.42 ± 0.57) days, and the start time of defecation was (2.02 ± 1.25) days. The ICU hospitalization duration of the observation group (5.54 ± 1.51) days was shorter than that of the control group (7.36 ± 1.89) days, with differences being statistically significant ( t values were 2.71 - 5.32, all P<0.05). The postoperative delirium incidence rate of the observation group was 8.00% (4/50) lower than that of the control group 24.00% (12/50), with differences being statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.76, P<0.05). The postoperative 24-hour MRC muscle strength score (5.34 ± 0.58) and the discharge MBI score (77.56 ± 11.34) in the observation group were both significantly higher than those of the control group (4.79 ± 0.65) and (68.25 ± 10.47), respectively ( t = 4.46, 4.27, both P<0.05). Conclusions:The comfort-oriented light sedation strategy nursing model can improve the postoperative sedation and analgesia effects for ICU gastrointestinal surgery patients, promote gastrointestinal function recovery, shorten ICU hospital stay, reduce delirium incidence, and accelerate patient postoperative recovery.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors and construct a nomogram prediction model for neonatal bacterial meningitis (BM).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 1 228 neonates who underwent lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid examination in the Department of Neonatology at Gansu Provincial Women and Child Healthcare Hospital from December 2019 to February 2024. The subjects were randomly divided into a training cohort and a validation cohort at a ratio of 7∶3 using a computer program. Rank sum test or Chi-square tests were used to compare differences between the two cohorts. The subjects were divided into BM and non-BM groups based on the presence or absence of BM. Multivariate logistic regression analysis (forward stepwise regression method) was used in the training cohort to identify risk factors for BM. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to assess the discrimination and calibration of the model, respectively. Calibration curves were used to evaluate the accuracy of the model and to construct the nomogram. Internal validation was performed using the Bootstrap resampling method. Decision curve analysis was used to assess the clinical utility of the model. Results:Among the 1 228 neonates, 151 (12.3%) had BM. The training cohort included 859 neonates, of whom 106 (12.3%) had BM and 753 (87.7%) did not. The validation cohort included 369 neonates, of whom 45 (12.2%) had BM and 324 (87.8%) did not. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis in the training cohort showed that sepsis ( OR=4.446, 95% CI:2.583-7.653), convulsions ( OR=3.749, 95% CI:1.930-7.280), high maximum body temperature ( OR=2.027, 95% CI:1.636-2.513), and elevated C-reactive protein ( OR=1.007, 95% CI:1.003-1.012) were independent risk factors for BM, while greater gestational age at birth ( OR=0.946, 95% CI: 0.898-0.995) and higher hemoglobin levels ( OR=0.990, 95% CI:0.981-0.998) were protective factors for BM (all P<0.05). Based on these findings, a nomogram prediction model for neonatal BM was constructed and validated for accuracy. The AUC values of the nomogram model in the training and validation cohorts were 0.796 (95% CI: 0.750-0.843) and 0.781 (95% CI: 0.700-0.862), respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test showed P>0.05 in both cohorts. The clinical decision curve analysis demonstrated good net benefit across most threshold ranges. Conclusions:Sepsis, convulsions, high maximum body temperature, and elevated C-reactive protein increase the risk of neonatal BM. The nomogram model constructed based on these factors, combined with gestational age and hemoglobin levels, provides a reference value for predicting the risk of neonatal BM.

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired clonal hematopoietic stem cell disease caused by abnormal expression of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) on the cell membrane due to mutations in the phosphatidylinositol glycan class A(PIGA) gene. It is commonly characterized by intravascular hemolysis, repeated thrombosis, and bone marrow failure, as well as multiple systemic involvement symptoms such as renal dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, swallowing difficulties, chest pain, abdominal pain, and erectile dysfunction. Due to the rarity of PNH and its strong heterogeneity in clinical manifestations, multidisciplinary collaboration is often required for diagnosis and treatment. Peking Union Medical College Hospital, relying on the rare disease diagnosis and treatment platform, has invited multidisciplinary clinical experts to form a unified opinion on the diagnosis and treatment of PNH, and formulated the Expert Consensus of Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (2024), with the hope of promoting the standardization of PNH diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and prognostic value in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy (hATTR-CM) patients based on cluster analysis, and to explore the risk factors for cardiovascular composite events.Methods:This retrospective cohort study included hATTR-CM patients who were admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2000 to January 2024. These patients were divided into two clusters using cluster analysis, based on genetic information, demographic information and clinical information. During the follow-up period, cardiovascular composite events were defined as all-cause death and hospitalization for heart failure. Both cardiovascular composite events and all-cause death were the endpoints. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank method were used to compare the prognostic significance of cluster analysis subgroups. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to analyze the risk factors affecting the incidence of cardiovascular composite events.Results:A total of 43 patients were included in this study, 30 were male (69.8%). In cluster 1 ( n=27), whose age of onset was (49.9±13.9) years old, 24(88.9%) of them started with neuropathy or gastrointestinal symptoms, and all clinical phenotypes were mixed type (neurological and cardiac). In cluster 2 ( n=16), whose age of onset was (59.0±10.6) years old, 15(93.8%) of them started with heart failure symptoms, and 13(81.3%) were pure cardiomyopathy. During the median follow-up time of 2.6 years, a total of 16 patients (37.2%) experienced composite cardiovascular events, and a total of 12 patients (27.9%) died. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed a significantly lower cumulative survival rate for cardiovascular composite endpoint events (log-rank P=0.04) and all-cause death (log-rank P=0.04) in cluster 2 than in cluster 1. Univariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that hATTR-CM patients with reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate, left ventricular ejection fraction≤40%, and moderate to severe mitral regurgitation were risk factors for vascular composite events (all P<0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that left ventricular ejection fraction≤40% was an independent risk factor ( P<0.01). Conclusions:Cluster analysis is a valuable prediction tool on the prognostic stratification of hATTR-CM. Cluster 2, which is late-onset with onset of heart failure symptoms has a worse prognosis during follow-up period. The occurrence of composite cardiovascular events in hATTR-CM is related to left ventricular ejection fraction≤40%. Cluster analysis is helpful for clinical identification of high-risk groups.