1.Detection and clinical significance of serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin levels in patients with dermatomyositis
Yongheng CHEN ; Kaile HE ; Shile CHEN ; Xinlin SHAO ; Chenyu WU ; Ling JIN ; Weiru YUAN ; Hua CAO
Chinese Journal of Dermatology 2025;58(8):729-735
Objective:To explore the relationship between serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) levels and the occurrence of pruritus as well as interstitial lung diseases (ILD) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) or clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) .Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data from 61 diagnosed DM/CADM patients at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine between February 2019 and March 2022. Thirty-five age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were included as controls. Serum TSLP and anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) . A multiplexed flow cytometry assay was performed to detect the serum levels of 12 cytokines, including interferon (IFN) -α2, IFN-γ, interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5, etc. Pruritus severity in DM/CADM patients was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) . Relationships of serum TSLP levels with skin lesions, inflammatory markers, and the severity of ILD were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8.0.1 and R (version 4.3.2) software.Results:Among the 61 patients with DM/CADM, 18 were males (13 with DM and 5 with CADM) and 43 were females (30 with DM and 13 with CADM) , with ages of 53.08 ± 14.97 years and disease duration of 6.27 ± 4.27 months. No significant differences were observed in sex or age between the DM/CADM group and the healthy control group (both P > 0.05) . Of the 61 patients, 15 (24.59%) were positive for anti-MDA5 antibodies, and 31 (51.67%) had ILD, including 11 with acute/subacute interstitial pneumonia (A/SIP) . The pruritus VAS score ( M[ Q1, Q3]) among the 61 patients was 3 (0, 6) points; 20 patients (32.79%) reported no pruritus, while 11 (18.32%) , 17 (27.87%) , and 13 (21.31%) experienced mild, moderate, and severe pruritus, respectively. Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the DM/CADM patients than in the healthy controls (91.0 [34.6, 273.0] vs. 25.0 [0.0, 83.5] pg/ml, Z = 1 502.50, P < 0.001]. The TSLP levels were significantly positively correlated with serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and ferritin, and significantly negatively correlated with pruritus VAS scores, eosinophil percentages, and eosinophil counts (all P < 0.05) . Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients than in the anti-MDA5 antibody-negative patients (273.0 [103.8, 2 576.0] pg/ml vs. 67.4 [16.9, 218.7] pg/ml, P = 0.002) , as well as in the patients with A/SIP than in those without A/SIP (390.0 [168.2, 2 869.6] vs. 67.5 [21.8, 235.9] pg/ml, P < 0.001) . ROC analysis showed that the combined detection of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies had a higher predictive value for A/SIP in DM/CADM patients (AUC = 0.922) than either the detection of anti-MDA5 antibodies (AUC = 0.831) or TSLP (AUC = 0.824) alone did. Conclusions:Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in patients with DM/CADM than in healthy controls, with particularly higher levels observed in anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients and patients with coexisting A/SIP, and were correlated with several indicators of disease activity. The combination of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies provided greater predictive value for A/SIP than either of them alone did.
2.Detection and clinical significance of serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin levels in patients with dermatomyositis
Yongheng CHEN ; Kaile HE ; Shile CHEN ; Xinlin SHAO ; Chenyu WU ; Ling JIN ; Weiru YUAN ; Hua CAO
Chinese Journal of Dermatology 2025;58(8):729-735
Objective:To explore the relationship between serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) levels and the occurrence of pruritus as well as interstitial lung diseases (ILD) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) or clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) .Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data from 61 diagnosed DM/CADM patients at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine between February 2019 and March 2022. Thirty-five age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were included as controls. Serum TSLP and anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) . A multiplexed flow cytometry assay was performed to detect the serum levels of 12 cytokines, including interferon (IFN) -α2, IFN-γ, interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5, etc. Pruritus severity in DM/CADM patients was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) . Relationships of serum TSLP levels with skin lesions, inflammatory markers, and the severity of ILD were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8.0.1 and R (version 4.3.2) software.Results:Among the 61 patients with DM/CADM, 18 were males (13 with DM and 5 with CADM) and 43 were females (30 with DM and 13 with CADM) , with ages of 53.08 ± 14.97 years and disease duration of 6.27 ± 4.27 months. No significant differences were observed in sex or age between the DM/CADM group and the healthy control group (both P > 0.05) . Of the 61 patients, 15 (24.59%) were positive for anti-MDA5 antibodies, and 31 (51.67%) had ILD, including 11 with acute/subacute interstitial pneumonia (A/SIP) . The pruritus VAS score ( M[ Q1, Q3]) among the 61 patients was 3 (0, 6) points; 20 patients (32.79%) reported no pruritus, while 11 (18.32%) , 17 (27.87%) , and 13 (21.31%) experienced mild, moderate, and severe pruritus, respectively. Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the DM/CADM patients than in the healthy controls (91.0 [34.6, 273.0] vs. 25.0 [0.0, 83.5] pg/ml, Z = 1 502.50, P < 0.001]. The TSLP levels were significantly positively correlated with serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and ferritin, and significantly negatively correlated with pruritus VAS scores, eosinophil percentages, and eosinophil counts (all P < 0.05) . Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients than in the anti-MDA5 antibody-negative patients (273.0 [103.8, 2 576.0] pg/ml vs. 67.4 [16.9, 218.7] pg/ml, P = 0.002) , as well as in the patients with A/SIP than in those without A/SIP (390.0 [168.2, 2 869.6] vs. 67.5 [21.8, 235.9] pg/ml, P < 0.001) . ROC analysis showed that the combined detection of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies had a higher predictive value for A/SIP in DM/CADM patients (AUC = 0.922) than either the detection of anti-MDA5 antibodies (AUC = 0.831) or TSLP (AUC = 0.824) alone did. Conclusions:Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in patients with DM/CADM than in healthy controls, with particularly higher levels observed in anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients and patients with coexisting A/SIP, and were correlated with several indicators of disease activity. The combination of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies provided greater predictive value for A/SIP than either of them alone did.
3.Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Blood Cell Morphology Examination
Xinrui FENG ; Weiru WU ; Xiaoli ZHANG ; Zhong YANG ; Qinghua BI
Journal of Modern Laboratory Medicine 2025;40(1):189-195
Blood cell morphology examination is the foundation and important means of diagnosing blood diseases. Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted blood cell morphology examination compensates for the shortcomings of artificial microscopy in the early detection and diagnosis of blood diseases,improves diagnostic efficiency,accuracy,and sensitivity,greatly reduces labor and time costs,significantly improves medical quality,and promotes personalized health care. Traditional manual microscopy is still the standard method in clinical practice in China. In order to encourage the improvement and development of intelligence-assisted blood cell morphology examination,this article discusses the current situation and characteristics of intelligence-assisted blood cell morphology examination. Considering the standardization,database,and ethical issues of automated blood cell morphology analysis,some challenges and limitations are summarized and analyzed,which can support the diagnosis of blood diseases and assist researchers and clinical doctors in the future.
4.The application of artificial intelligence in clinical hematology laboratory teaching
Xinrui FENG ; Weiru WU ; Xiaoli ZHANG ; Zhong YANG ; Youcai DENG ; Qinghua BI
Chinese Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2025;48(2):286-291
This article focuses on the application of artificial intelligence in clinical hematology laboratory teaching. By analyzing the current situation of clinical hematology test teaching and combining the advantages of artificial intelligence technology, this paper explores its application prospects in clinical hematology laboratory teaching from multiple perspectives, such as case library construction, atlas resource library construction, virtual simulation training, auxiliary teaching, and clinical thinking training, and analyzes the possible problems of artificial intelligence in teaching practice.
5.Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Blood Cell Morphology Examination
Xinrui FENG ; Weiru WU ; Xiaoli ZHANG ; Zhong YANG ; Qinghua BI
Journal of Modern Laboratory Medicine 2025;40(1):189-195
Blood cell morphology examination is the foundation and important means of diagnosing blood diseases. Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted blood cell morphology examination compensates for the shortcomings of artificial microscopy in the early detection and diagnosis of blood diseases,improves diagnostic efficiency,accuracy,and sensitivity,greatly reduces labor and time costs,significantly improves medical quality,and promotes personalized health care. Traditional manual microscopy is still the standard method in clinical practice in China. In order to encourage the improvement and development of intelligence-assisted blood cell morphology examination,this article discusses the current situation and characteristics of intelligence-assisted blood cell morphology examination. Considering the standardization,database,and ethical issues of automated blood cell morphology analysis,some challenges and limitations are summarized and analyzed,which can support the diagnosis of blood diseases and assist researchers and clinical doctors in the future.
6.The application of artificial intelligence in clinical hematology laboratory teaching
Xinrui FENG ; Weiru WU ; Xiaoli ZHANG ; Zhong YANG ; Youcai DENG ; Qinghua BI
Chinese Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2025;48(2):286-291
This article focuses on the application of artificial intelligence in clinical hematology laboratory teaching. By analyzing the current situation of clinical hematology test teaching and combining the advantages of artificial intelligence technology, this paper explores its application prospects in clinical hematology laboratory teaching from multiple perspectives, such as case library construction, atlas resource library construction, virtual simulation training, auxiliary teaching, and clinical thinking training, and analyzes the possible problems of artificial intelligence in teaching practice.
7.Diagnosis and treatment of a child with alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins due to variant of FOXF1 gene.
Weifeng ZHANG ; Zhiyong LIU ; Weiru LIN ; Fengfeng ZHANG ; Jinglin XU ; Xiaoqing LI ; Ruiquan WANG ; Lianqiang WU ; Dongmei CHEN
Chinese Journal of Medical Genetics 2023;40(9):1171-1175
OBJECTIVE:
To explore the diagnosis, treatment and genetic characteristics of a neonate with severe pulmonary hypertension and respiratory failure.
METHODS:
Perinatal history, clinical manifestations, laboratory finding and diagnosis and treatment data of the child were collected. Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the child, and Sanger sequencing was used to verify the candidate variants.
RESULTS:
The female neonate has developed progressive respiratory failure and refractory pulmonary hypertension shortly after birth. Conventional treatment such as mechanical ventilation, vasoactive drugs, and inhaled nitric oxide were ineffective. She has developed sustained pulmonary hypertension after weaning from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy, and had died after the treatment had ceased. Whole exome sequencing revealed that she has harbored a heterozygous de novo variant of c.682_683insGCGGCGGC (p.G234Rfs*148) of the FOXF1 gene, which was predicted as pathogenic based on guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), with evidence items of PVS1_Strong+PM2_Supporting+PS2. Based on her clinical manifestations and result of genetic testing, the child was diagnosed with alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins (ACD/MPV).
CONCLUSION
Discovery of the c.682_683insGCGGCGGC (p.G234 Rfs*148) variant of the FOXF1 gene has expanded the mutational spectrum of the FOXF1 gene, which has facilitated implementation of specific treatment and provided a basis for clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling.
Female
;
Humans
;
Child
;
Infant, Newborn
;
Pregnancy
;
Persistent Fetal Circulation Syndrome/therapy*
;
Hypertension, Pulmonary
;
Pulmonary Veins
;
Forkhead Transcription Factors/genetics*
8.Construction and practice of the golden course "doctor-patient communication skills"
Ying HUANG ; Jing WU ; Wangbin NING ; Meihua XU ; Xinhua LI ; Zehao LIU ; Zongfeng DING ; Weiru ZHANG ; Xiaobin CHEN
Chinese Journal of Medical Education Research 2021;20(4):378-382
Diagnostics is one of the most important bridge courses for medical students from basic to clinical. Doctor-patient communication runs through the whole process of patient diagnosis and treatment. How to improve medical students' ability of doctor-patient communication? Our teaching team has carried out continuous reform and explored the scientific effective teaching mode. Recently, through the construction of "doctor-patient communication skills" quality online course, efforts have made to build an online and offline blended learning mode, which has gradually realize the integration with diagnostics teaching, and has achieved remarkable results. It also provides a scientific practical basis for the integration of doctor-patient communication and other clinical courses, which is worthy of promotion.
9.Construction of RNA interference (RNAi) lentiviral expression vector of DEK gene and its effect on the biological behavior of liver cancer cells
Shuhua LI ; Yu HOU ; Zhe CHEN ; Weiru WU ; Chuanxin WU ; Hang SUN
Chinese Journal of Hepatology 2020;28(10):868-875
Objective:To construct RNA interference (RNAi) lentiviral expression vector of DEK gene, and to explore its effect on the biological behavior of liver cancer cells.Methods:Double-stranded oligo DNAs were annealed and synthesized according to the interference sequence of DEK gene by RNAi technology. Small interfering RNA expression vector pLKO.1 was cloned after enzymatic digestion. The recombinant lentiviral pLKO.1-sh hDEK was constructed, and then the virus supernatant was collected, packed and infected by 293T cells. Real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect DEK expression in human liver cancer cells Bel-7402, Hu-7, SmMC-7721 and HepG2, and DEK knockdown efficiency in each group of lentivirus-infected cells. Cell proliferation ability, cloning ability, apoptosis and migration ability were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8), flow cytometry and scratch test, respectively. The t-test was used to compare the mean between the two groups, and one-way ANOVA was used to compare the multiple groups.Results:Enzymatic digestion and DNA sequencing results confirmed that the recombinant lentiviral vectors pLKO.1-sh hDEK1 and pLKO.1-sh hDEK3 were successfully constructed. RT-PCR and Western blot results showed that the expression of DEK in human liver cancer cells BEL-7402 and Huh7 cells was higher, and pLKO.1-sh hDEK3 was more effective in inhibiting the DEK gene expression ( P < 0.05). Therefore, pLKO.1-sh hDEK3 was selected to infect BEL-7402 and Huh7 cells for subsequent functional experiments. CCK8 cell proliferation test result showed that the cell proliferation ability of BEL-7402 and Huh7 cells infected with recombinant lentivirus was weakened when compared with blank control and negative control group ( P < 0.05). Apoptosis results showed that the apoptosis rate of knockdown group was higher than that of blank and the negative control group ( P < 0.05). Cell scratch test result showed that the wound healing rate of knockdown group was lower than that of blank control and negative control group ( P < 0.05), and the difference was statistically significant; however, there was no statistically significant difference between blank control and negative control group. Conclusion:Targeting DEK expression in silent liver cancer cells can inhibit the cell proliferation, migration ability, and induce apoptosis, which lays the foundation for further study of the role of DEK gene in liver cancer.
10.Current trend of breast cancer neoadjuvant treatment in China: a cross-sectional study
Jia WANG ; Bingqiu XIU ; Rong GUO ; Benlong YANG ; Qi ZHANG ; Yonghui SU ; Lun LI ; Weiru JI ; Yingying ZHANG ; Ayong CAO ; Zhimin SHAO ; Jiong WU
Chinese Journal of Oncology 2020;42(11):931-936
Objective:To investigate the current trend of breast cancer neoadjuvant therapy and provide reference for the improvement of breast cancer clinical guideline in the future.Methods:Questionnaires of cross-sectional survey were sent to 110 hospitals (breast cancer surgery quantity surpassing 200) between July 2018 and September 2018. The stages and subtypes, therapeutic regimen, treatment assession, operation choice and preforming of patients underwent neoadjuvant therapy were recorded.Results:Neoadjuvant treatment has been performed in all of the 110 hospitals. The total number of breast patients underwent neoadjuvant therapy was about 14 550 (17.0% in surgical patients) in 2017. For all of the neoadjuvant patients, the proportion of stageⅡ patients was less than 30% in 81 hospitals, and the proportion of stage Ⅲ was more than 50% in 84 hospitals. The numbers of estrogen receptor (ER) (+ )/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) (-), ER (-)/HER-2 (+ ) and triple negative subtype breast cancer patients were 3 550 (24.4%), 6 024 (41.4%) and 4 991 (34.3%), respectively. Patient′s scruples of relatively delayed operation and weak will of breast conservation after neoadjuvant therapy were the majority reasons for neoadjuvant therapy restriction. Anthracycline followed by taxane was the most usual neoadjuvant therapeutic regimens in 53.6% hospitals, and anthracycline plus taxane was the first choice in 42.7% hospitals. Chemotherapy with targeting therapy was recommended to HER-2 positive neoadjuvant patients in 80.9% hospitals. To assess treatment outcome of neoadjuvant treatment, 42.7% hospitals used MRI in more than 50% patients while the usage rate of MRI was less than 20% in 37.3% hospitals. The proportions of hospital using repeat-marking, tattoo and metal clip as the first method to identify the primary tumor region and lymph nodes were 60.0%, 29.1% and 10.9%, respectively. Breast-conservation rate after neoadjuvant therapy was less than 20% in 87.3% hospitals.Conclusions:Neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer is widely performed in most hospitals in China, while the proportion of neoadjuvant treatment in patients with operable breast cancer is still low. Meanwhile, the idea of achieving de-escalation operation through neoadjuvant treatment is not promoted and the therapeutic evaluation method of neoadjuvant treatment needs further studies to improve.

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