Azvudine and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) are recommended for COVID-19 treatment in China, but their safety and efficacy in the elderly population are not fully known. In this multicenter, retrospective, cohort study, we identified 5131 elderly hospitalized COVID-19 patients from 32,864 COVID-19 patients admitted to nine hospitals in Henan Province, China, from December 5, 2022, to January 31, 2023. The primary outcome was all-cause death, and the secondary outcome was composite disease progression. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to control for confounding factors, including demographics, vaccination status, comorbidities, and laboratory tests. After 2:1 PSM, 1786 elderly patients receiving azvudine and 893 elderly patients receiving Paxlovid were included. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses revealed that compared with Paxlovid group, azvudine could significantly reduce the risk of all-cause death (log-rank P = 0.002; HR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.573-0.883, P = 0.002), but there was no difference in composite disease progression (log-rank P = 0.52; HR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.877-1.260, P = 0.588). Four sensitivity analyses verified the robustness of above results. Subgroup analysis suggested that a greater benefit of azvudine over Paxlovid was observed in elderly patients with primary malignant tumors (P for interaction = 0.005, HR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.18-0.57) compared to patients without primary malignant tumors. Safety analysis revealed that azvudine treatment had a lower incidence of adverse events and higher lymphocyte levels than Paxlovid treatment. In conclusion, azvudine treatment is not inferior to Paxlovid treatment in terms of all-cause death, composite disease progression and adverse events in elderly hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Objective To review clinical trial registration status of TCM treatment for coronary microvascular disease;To analyze the effectiveness and safety of TCM in treating coronary microvascular disease.Methods The clinical trials of TCM in the treatment of coronary artery microvascular disease included in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry and the US Clinical Trials Registry from the establishment of the database to January 31,2024 were retrieved,and the general characteristics(time,region,funding source),design type,intervention regimen and outcome indicators of the included clinical trials were extracted and analyzed using Excel 2019 software.Results A total of 17 clinical trials were included,including 16 pre-registrations.The registered units were distributed in 5 provinces across the country,involving 17 registration institutions.The two regions with the most distribution were Shanghai(6 studies,35.29%)and Beijing(5 studies,29.41%).The types of studies were mainly interventional studies,and most of the study designs were randomized parallel controlled studies(16 studies,94.12%).A total of 8 interventions were reported,including Chinese patent medicine,TCM decoction,TCM intravenous preparation,and acupuncture and moxibustion.A total of 143 outcome indicators were designed,including 10 first-level indicators,including coronary artery microcirculation,clinical efficacy,symptoms and signs,TCM syndromes,quality of life,exercise tolerance,cardiac function,physical and chemical testing,safety,and pharmacoeconomic evaluation.Conclusion The registration of clinical trials by TCM in the treatment of coronary microvascular diseases has been gradually receiving attention from researchers,but the overall number is still small.At present,the study needs to be optimized in terms of study design and index selection.

Objective:To analyze the associated factors and cumulative effects of cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) among residents in southern Xinjiang.Methods:A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to conduct questionnaire surveys, physical examinations and laboratory tests among the personnel of the 51st Brigade, 3rd Division, Xinjiang, in 2016. The multivariate logistic regression, multivariate linear regression, restricted cubic spline, and network analysis methods were used to study the association of lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity), socioeconomic (occupation, education and marital status) and clinical factors (waist circumference, body mass index and family history) with CMM.Results:A total of 12 773 study subjects were included. The prevalence of cardiovascular metabolic diseases among residents in southern Xinjiang was 52.49%. Specifically, the prevalence rates of dyslipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke were 31.14%, 29.95%, 6.78%, 6.26%, and 2.47%, respectively, and the prevalence of CMM was 19.06%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the associations between clinical and socioeconomic factors and CMM significantly increased with higher scores. Specifically, the OR rose from 1.75 (clinical factors) and 1.07 (socioeconomic factors) on a score of 1 to 4.41 and 1.93 on a score of 3, respectively. The association between lifestyle factors and CMM was only observed at higher scores ( OR=1.26, 95% CI:1.07~1.62). The trend test using the scores of each group as continuous variables in the model showed that the risk of disease increased with the accumulation of clinical, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors (all P<0.05). Restricted cubic spline analysis demonstrated a non-linear relationship between the total number of associated factors and CMM ( Poverall<0.05 and Pnon-linear<0.05). Network analysis identified hypertension (strength=0.42) as the “core node” among the five diseases. When analyzing the three types of influencing factors, hypertension (strength=0.68), dyslipidemia (strength=0.47), coronary heart disease (strength=0.37), and clinical factors (strength=0.53) emerged as “core nodes”. In the network of nine associated factors, abnormal waist circumference and BMI (strength=0.90 and 0.84) were identified as “key factors”, while hypertension (strength=0.68) and dyslipidemia (strength=0.52) were identified as “key diseases”. Conclusion:The prevalence of CMM among residents in southern Xinjiang is high, and there is a cumulative effect of multiple factors. Hypertension and dyslipidemia are key diseases in the multimorbidity network, while abnormal BMI and waist circumference are key associated factors.

Objective Readout segmentation of long variable echo-trains diffusion weighted imaging(RESOLVE DWI)was used to analyze the difference of apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)value in deep cerebral nucleus and its correlation with clinical characteristics in patients with Parkinson's disease(PD).Methods Clinical data of 60 patients with PD were retrospectively analyzed as PD group,and were divided in-to the tremor group(n=30)and the bradykinesia group(n=30)according to symptom type,middle-aged(≤65 years old)group(n=23)and elderly(＞65 years old)group(n=37)according to age,and 60 healthy vol-unteers were selected as the control group during the same period.ADC values were measured on the ADC map of RESOLVE DWI sequence,and the ADC values of bilateral putamen,pallidus,substantia nigra,rubra,and dentate nucleus were analyzed and their correlation with UPDRS-Ⅲ score and H&Y grading.Results Compared with the control group,the ADC values of both putamen,globus pallidus,globus pallidus,red nucleus,right substantia nigra and right dentate nucleus were increased in the PD group,the ADC values of both putamen,globus pallidus,red nucleus and right substantia nigra in the tremor group were increased,and the ADC values of right putamen,globus pallidus and bilateral red nucleus in the bradykinesia group were increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the bradykinesia group,the values of ADC in the tremor group were similar.Compared with the middle-aged group,the ADC values of right putamen,bilateral globus pallidus,left substantia nigra and left red nucleus were higher in the elderly group(P＜0.05).In the PD group,the ADC values of the right putamen,globus pallidus,and dentate nucleus were positively correlated with H&Y grade and UPDRS-Ⅲscore,and the ADC value of the left putamen was positively correlated with H&Y grade.Conclusion RE-SOLVE DWI can be used to evaluate the differences in deep gray matter nuclei in PD patients,and its ADC value may be used to evaluate and predict the severity of nuclear mass damage and motor symptoms in PD pa-tients.

AIM:This study aims to investigate the effects of Feixin decoction(FXD)on pyroptosis of pulmo-nary artery smooth muscle cells(PASMCs)by modulating nuclear factor κB(NF-κB)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)pathway,and to explore how FXD attenuates hypoxic pulmonary hypertension(HPH)in mice.METHODS:A mouse model of HPH was established using the Sugen 5416 combined hypoxia(SuHx)method.Sixty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 6 groups:control group,SuHx group,sildenafil group,and low-,medium-and high-dose FXD groups,with 10 mice in each group.Five weeks after treatment,echocardiographic pa-rameters,including pulmonary artery acceleration time(PAT),pulmonary artery ejection time(PET),right ventricular anterior wall thickness at diastole(RVAWd)and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion(TAPSE),were measured.Right ventricular systolic pressure(RVSP)was assessed via right heart catheterization.Right ventricular hypertrophy in-dex(RVHI)was determined by weighing the hearts.Histological examination using HE staining was conducted to observe pathological changes in small pulmonary arteries and the right ventricle,while Masson staining was used to assess fibrosis in the right ventricular wall.Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect co-localized expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)with NLRP3,N-terminal fragment of gasdermin D(N-GSDMD)and caspase-1 in the pulmonary arteries.Western blot analysis was conducted to measure the protein levels of NF-κB,p-NF-κB,NLRP3,apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain(ASC),N-GSDMD,interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tissues.Transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the ultrastructure of PASMCs.RE-SULTS:Compared with control group,the mice in SuHx group exhibited elevated RVSP and RVHI(P＜0.01),de-creased right heart function(P＜0.01),increased right ventricular wall fibrosis,and pulmonary vascular remodeling(P＜0.01).There was also increased co-localized expression of α-SMA with NLRP3,N-GSDMD and caspase-1 in small pul-monary arteries(P＜0.01),as well as elevated levels of p-NF-κB,NLRP3,ASC,N-GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tissues(P＜0.01),indicating induced pyroptosis of PASMCs.Compared with SuHx group,FXD treat-ment significantly reduced RVSP and RVHI,improved right ventricular function,and attenuated right ventricular wall fi-brosis and pulmonary vascular remodeling(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Treatment with FXD also decreased the co-localized ex-pression of α-SMA with NLRP3,N-GSDMD and caspase-1 in small pulmonary arteries(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),and down-regulated the protein expression of p-NF-κB,NLRP3,ASC,N-GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tis-sues(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),thereby attenuating the pyroptosis of PASMCs.CONCLUSION:FXD attenuates pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular dysfunction in a mouse model of HPH.This effect may be attributed to its inhibi-tion of NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway,which subsequently reduces the pyroptosis of PASMCs.

Objective:To analyze the associated factors and cumulative effects of cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) among residents in southern Xinjiang.Methods:A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to conduct questionnaire surveys, physical examinations and laboratory tests among the personnel of the 51st Brigade, 3rd Division, Xinjiang, in 2016. The multivariate logistic regression, multivariate linear regression, restricted cubic spline, and network analysis methods were used to study the association of lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity), socioeconomic (occupation, education and marital status) and clinical factors (waist circumference, body mass index and family history) with CMM.Results:A total of 12 773 study subjects were included. The prevalence of cardiovascular metabolic diseases among residents in southern Xinjiang was 52.49%. Specifically, the prevalence rates of dyslipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke were 31.14%, 29.95%, 6.78%, 6.26%, and 2.47%, respectively, and the prevalence of CMM was 19.06%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the associations between clinical and socioeconomic factors and CMM significantly increased with higher scores. Specifically, the OR rose from 1.75 (clinical factors) and 1.07 (socioeconomic factors) on a score of 1 to 4.41 and 1.93 on a score of 3, respectively. The association between lifestyle factors and CMM was only observed at higher scores ( OR=1.26, 95% CI:1.07~1.62). The trend test using the scores of each group as continuous variables in the model showed that the risk of disease increased with the accumulation of clinical, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors (all P<0.05). Restricted cubic spline analysis demonstrated a non-linear relationship between the total number of associated factors and CMM ( Poverall<0.05 and Pnon-linear<0.05). Network analysis identified hypertension (strength=0.42) as the “core node” among the five diseases. When analyzing the three types of influencing factors, hypertension (strength=0.68), dyslipidemia (strength=0.47), coronary heart disease (strength=0.37), and clinical factors (strength=0.53) emerged as “core nodes”. In the network of nine associated factors, abnormal waist circumference and BMI (strength=0.90 and 0.84) were identified as “key factors”, while hypertension (strength=0.68) and dyslipidemia (strength=0.52) were identified as “key diseases”. Conclusion:The prevalence of CMM among residents in southern Xinjiang is high, and there is a cumulative effect of multiple factors. Hypertension and dyslipidemia are key diseases in the multimorbidity network, while abnormal BMI and waist circumference are key associated factors.

Objective To review clinical trial registration status of TCM treatment for coronary microvascular disease;To analyze the effectiveness and safety of TCM in treating coronary microvascular disease.Methods The clinical trials of TCM in the treatment of coronary artery microvascular disease included in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry and the US Clinical Trials Registry from the establishment of the database to January 31,2024 were retrieved,and the general characteristics(time,region,funding source),design type,intervention regimen and outcome indicators of the included clinical trials were extracted and analyzed using Excel 2019 software.Results A total of 17 clinical trials were included,including 16 pre-registrations.The registered units were distributed in 5 provinces across the country,involving 17 registration institutions.The two regions with the most distribution were Shanghai(6 studies,35.29%)and Beijing(5 studies,29.41%).The types of studies were mainly interventional studies,and most of the study designs were randomized parallel controlled studies(16 studies,94.12%).A total of 8 interventions were reported,including Chinese patent medicine,TCM decoction,TCM intravenous preparation,and acupuncture and moxibustion.A total of 143 outcome indicators were designed,including 10 first-level indicators,including coronary artery microcirculation,clinical efficacy,symptoms and signs,TCM syndromes,quality of life,exercise tolerance,cardiac function,physical and chemical testing,safety,and pharmacoeconomic evaluation.Conclusion The registration of clinical trials by TCM in the treatment of coronary microvascular diseases has been gradually receiving attention from researchers,but the overall number is still small.At present,the study needs to be optimized in terms of study design and index selection.

AIM:This study aims to investigate the effects of Feixin decoction(FXD)on pyroptosis of pulmo-nary artery smooth muscle cells(PASMCs)by modulating nuclear factor κB(NF-κB)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)pathway,and to explore how FXD attenuates hypoxic pulmonary hypertension(HPH)in mice.METHODS:A mouse model of HPH was established using the Sugen 5416 combined hypoxia(SuHx)method.Sixty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 6 groups:control group,SuHx group,sildenafil group,and low-,medium-and high-dose FXD groups,with 10 mice in each group.Five weeks after treatment,echocardiographic pa-rameters,including pulmonary artery acceleration time(PAT),pulmonary artery ejection time(PET),right ventricular anterior wall thickness at diastole(RVAWd)and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion(TAPSE),were measured.Right ventricular systolic pressure(RVSP)was assessed via right heart catheterization.Right ventricular hypertrophy in-dex(RVHI)was determined by weighing the hearts.Histological examination using HE staining was conducted to observe pathological changes in small pulmonary arteries and the right ventricle,while Masson staining was used to assess fibrosis in the right ventricular wall.Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect co-localized expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)with NLRP3,N-terminal fragment of gasdermin D(N-GSDMD)and caspase-1 in the pulmonary arteries.Western blot analysis was conducted to measure the protein levels of NF-κB,p-NF-κB,NLRP3,apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain(ASC),N-GSDMD,interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tissues.Transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the ultrastructure of PASMCs.RE-SULTS:Compared with control group,the mice in SuHx group exhibited elevated RVSP and RVHI(P＜0.01),de-creased right heart function(P＜0.01),increased right ventricular wall fibrosis,and pulmonary vascular remodeling(P＜0.01).There was also increased co-localized expression of α-SMA with NLRP3,N-GSDMD and caspase-1 in small pul-monary arteries(P＜0.01),as well as elevated levels of p-NF-κB,NLRP3,ASC,N-GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tissues(P＜0.01),indicating induced pyroptosis of PASMCs.Compared with SuHx group,FXD treat-ment significantly reduced RVSP and RVHI,improved right ventricular function,and attenuated right ventricular wall fi-brosis and pulmonary vascular remodeling(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Treatment with FXD also decreased the co-localized ex-pression of α-SMA with NLRP3,N-GSDMD and caspase-1 in small pulmonary arteries(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),and down-regulated the protein expression of p-NF-κB,NLRP3,ASC,N-GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and cleaved caspase-1 in lung tis-sues(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),thereby attenuating the pyroptosis of PASMCs.CONCLUSION:FXD attenuates pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular dysfunction in a mouse model of HPH.This effect may be attributed to its inhibi-tion of NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway,which subsequently reduces the pyroptosis of PASMCs.

In order to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic intermuscular dissection (EID) for the treatment of rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs), a retrospective observational study was conducted on 8 consecutive patients with R-NETs confirmed by postoperative pathology at South China Hospital, Medical School, Shenzhen University from January 2022 to October 2023. The therapeutic efficacy, incidence of complications, and follow-up results were mainly analyzed. The results showed that all 8 cases achieved complete resection after EID, with operation times ranging from 40 to 90 minutes. No bleeding, perforation, fever or electrocoagulation syndrome occurred after operation. The hospital stay was 4 to 6 days. During follow-up of 3 to 24 months, there was no local recurrence or metastasis. Therefore, a preliminary conclusion can be drawn that EID is a safe and feasible treatment for R-NETs.

Objectives:To assess the prognostic impact of the neoadjuvant rectal (NAR) score following neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy and consolidation chemotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), as well as its value in guiding decisions for adjuvant chemotherapy.Methods:Between August 2015 and August 2018, patients were eligible from the STELLAR phase III trial (NCT02533271) who received short-course radiotherapy plus consolidation chemotherapy and for whom the NAR score could be calculated. Based on the NAR score, patients were categorized into low (＜8), intermediate (8-16), and high (＞16) groups. The Kaplan-Meier method, log rank tests, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to evaluate the impact of the NAR score on disease-free survival (DFS).Results:Out of the 232 patients, 24.1%, 48.7%, and 27.2% had low (56 cases), intermediate (113 cases), and high NAR scores (63 cases), respectively. The median follow-up period was 37 months, with 3-year DFS rates of 87.3%, 68.3%, and 53.4% ( P＜0.001) for the low, intermediate, and high NAR score groups. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the NAR score (intermediate NAR score: HR, 3.10, 95% CI, 1.30-7.37, P=0.011; high NAR scores: HR=5.44, 95% CI, 2.26-13.09, P＜0.001), resection status ( HR, 3.00, 95% CI, 1.64-5.52, P＜0.001), and adjuvant chemotherapy ( HR, 3.25, 95% CI, 2.01-5.27, P＜0.001) were independent prognostic factors for DFS. In patients with R0 resection, the 3-year DFS rates were 97.8% and 78.0% for those with low and intermediate NAR scores who received adjuvant chemotherapy, significantly higher than the 43.2% and 50.6% for those who did not ( P＜0.001, P=0.002). There was no significant difference in the 3-year DFS rate (54.2% vs 53.3%, P=0.214) among high NAR score patients, regardless of adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions:The NAR score is a robust prognostic indicator in LARC following neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy and consolidation chemotherapy, with potential implications for subsequent decisions regarding adjuvant chemotherapy. These findings warrant further validation in studies with larger sample sizes.