Objective: To characterize perioperative dynamic changes in immune-cell phenotypes and inflammatory cytokines in patients undergoing CPB (cardiopulmonary bypass) cardiac surgery, and to explore their associations with postoperative outcomes. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 120 adult patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery under CPB at West China Hospital from May 2022 to March 2023 were enrolled. Perioperative immune-cell phenotypes and concentrations of 40 inflammation-related cytokines were measured. The primary outcomes were the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score at 24 h after surgery and ΔSOFA (the peak SOFA score within 48 h after surgery minus the preoperative SOFA score). Secondary outcomes included major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), acute kidney injury (AKI), respiratory failure, severe liver injury, and infection. Results: The mean age of enrolled patients was 57±10 years. Of these, 52% (62/120) were male and 90% (108/120) underwent valve surgery. During the rewarming to the end of CPB, neutrophil counts rapidly increased (7.39×10 /L vs preoperative 3.07×10 /L, P<0.001), with significant upregulation of CD11b (7.30×10 /L vs preoperative 3.05×10 /L, P<0.001) and CD54 (7.15×10 /L vs preoperative 2.99×10 /L, P<0.001). Lymphocyte counts increased at the end of CPB (1.75×10 /L vs preoperative 1.12×10 /L, P<0.001) but decreased significantly at 24 h after surgery (0.59×10 /L vs preoperative 1.12×10 /L, P<0.001). Plasma analysis showed that multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines increased during CPB and remained elevated up to 24 h after surgery; five chemokines and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 peaked at the end of CPB. The SOFA score increased from 1 (1, 2) preoperatively to 7 (5, 10) at 24 h after surgery, with a ΔSOFA of 6 (4, 8). Within 30 days after surgery, 48 patients (40.0%) developed AKI, 17 (14.2%) developed infection, 4 (3.3%) developed severe liver injury, 3 (2.5%) developed respiratory failure, and 3 (2.5%) experienced MACE. During the 2-year follow-up, 8 patients (6.7%) experienced MACE and 5 (4.2%) died. Conclusion: Multi-organ dysfunction is common after cardiac surgery under CPB (median ΔSOFA, 6), accompanied by perioperative activation of multiple immune-cell subsets and upregulation of pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and chemotactic mediators. This study provides data-driven evidence and research clues for further investigation of the associations between CPB-related immune perturbations and postoperative organ dysfunction and clinical outcomes.

Irritable bowel syndrome （IBS） is a functional bowel disorder characterized primarily by abdominal pain and altered defecation habits. In recent years， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has made progress in multiple aspects of IBS research and treatment， including syndrome distribution， development of TCM formulas， clinical efficacy evaluation， external therapies， and psychosocial regulation. However， it still faces challenges such as over-reliance on symptomatic manifestations rather than biomarkers for diagnostic criteria， and the lack of high-quality evidence-based data supporting the efficacy of TCM formulas in treating IBS. This paper proposed that TCM diagnosis and treatment of IBS should adhere to the strategy of integrating the holistic concept with syndrome differentiation and treatment， combining TCM external therapies such as acupuncture， moxibustion and acupoint application）， and emphasizing individualized diagnosis and treatment for psychosomatic abnormalities. Future research should integrate multi-omics technologies， artificial intelligence and other methods to deepen the understanding of the pathogenesis of IBS and the mechanisms of TCM formulas， so as to promote the standardization and internationalization of TCM in the diagnosis and treatment of IBS.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics, pathological features, and diagnosis and treatment strategies of nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma (NCMH) in infants and young children.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on seven cases of NCMH infants and young children admitted to Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from April 2015 to January 2022. The cohort included 5 males and 2 females, aged from 6 days to 2 years and 3 months. General information, clinical symptoms, imaging findings, treatment plans, postoperative complications, recurrence and follow-up time were collected, summarized and analyzed. Additionally, immunohistochemical characteristics of the lesion were examined.Results:The clinical symptoms of 7 children included nasal congestion, runny nose, open mouth breathing, snoring during sleep, difficulty feeding, and strabismus. All patients underwent electronic nasopharyngoscopy examination, with 5 cases of tumors located in the right nasal cavity and 2 cases in the left nasal cavity. No case of bilateral nasal cavity disease was found. All 7 patients underwent complete imaging examinations, with 5 patients underwent MRI and CT examinations, 1 patient underwent CT examination only, and 1 patient underwent MRI examination only. The CT results showed that all tumors were broad-based, with uneven density, multiple calcifications and bone remodeling, and some exhibited multiple cystic components. The MRI results showed that the tumor showed low signal on T1 weighted imaging and high or slightly high signal on T2 weighted imaging. All patients were diagnosed through histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry, including 7 cases of Ki-67 and SMA (+), 5 cases of S-100 and Vimentin (+), and all EMA and GFAP were negative. All patients underwent endoscopic resection surgery through the nasal approach, with 3 cases using navigation technology. Five cases of tumors were completely removed, and two cases of tumors were mostly removed. No nasal packing was performed after surgery, and no postoperative nasal, ocular, or intracranial complication occurred in all patients. Follow up assessments conducted 6 to 84 months post-surgery revealed no instances of tumor recurrence in any of the patients.Conclusions:The clinical symptoms of children with NCHM mainly depend on the size and location of the tumor. Nasal endoscopic surgery is the main treatment method. In cases where critical structures like the skull base or orbit are implicated, staged surgical interventions may be warranted. Long-term follow-up is strongly advised to monitor for any potential recurrence or complications.

External treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a common treatment for lumbar disc herniation, which mainly includes fumigation and washing of TCM, and hot ironing therapy. It can cooperate with oral administration of TCM, Tuina, acupuncture and other therapies to play a synergistic effect and enhance the efficacy. External application of TCM in the treatment of lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is effective with long duration, easy-operated and safe It has showed curative effect in alleviating clinical symptoms and improving lumbar function. Its mechanism mainly includes regulating nerve inflammatory reaction, improving hemorheology and exerting analgesic effect.

Graph-theory-based pathway analysis is a commonly used method for pathway searching in genome-scale metabolic networks. However, such searching often results in many pathways biologically infeasible due to the presence of currency metabolites (e.g. H⁺, H₂O, CO₂, ATP etc.). Several methods have been proposed to address the problem but up to now there is no well-recognized methods for processing the currency metabolites. In this study, we proposed a new method based on the function of currency metabolites for transferring of functional groups such as phosphate. We processed most currency metabolites as pairs rather than individual metabolites, and ranked the pairs based on their importance in transferring functional groups, in order to make sure at least one main metabolite link exists for any reaction. The whole process can be done automatically by programming. Comparison with existing approaches indicates that more biologically infeasible pathways were removed by our method and the calculated pathways were more reliable, which may facilitate the graph-theory-based pathway design and visualization.
Genome ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways

Objective:To study the effect of sublingual immunotherapy on children with mite allergic rhinitis.Methods:Four hundred and ninety patients with mite allergic rhinitis have been recruited by Beijing Children′s Hospital from March 2014 to September 2019 and divided into 4 groups of young children group, different treatment duration group, individualized dose adjustment group and multiple allergy evaluation group, the clinical scores of total nasal symptoms score (TNSS), visual analogue scale scores (VAS) and total medication score were recorded at the first visit, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months after treatment, and the combined symptom and medication score(CSMS) score was calculated.Results:A total of 374 patients (76.32%) completed this study.Among them, the CSMS(2.20±1.61, 2.50±1.78), TNSS(2.80±2.32, 3.60±2.71) and VAS(3.50±1.16, 3.90±1.43) in ≤3-year-old group and children over 3-year-old group of young children set after use of 12 months were significantly lower than the score at the first time of diagnosis (respectively CSMS: 4.50±1.44, 5.30±1.32; TNSS: 6.20±1.89, 7.50±2.19; VAS: 5.40±2.33, 5.90±1.61). In addition, in the duration and efficacy set, the patients who completed the immunotherapy for 36 months can only be observed in the 3-year group, the scores were TNSS(0.90±0.97), VAS (1.30±1.19), CSMS (1.70±1.28); the scores of patients who completed the immunotherapy for 24 months in 2-year group and 3-year group were TNSS (2.10±0.95, 2.00±0.97), VAS (3.00±1.56, 3.10±1.68) and CSMS (3.10±1.15, 2.90±1.19) and the patients who completed 12-month immunotherapy were scored in 1-year group, 2-year group and 3-year group with TNSS(3.20±1.27, 3.10±1.41, 3.20±1.41), VAS(4.50±2.11, 4.70± 2.19, 4.50±2.17) and CSMS(4.20±1.39, 3.70±1.32, 4.10±1.39) respectively; patients with poor efficacy in sublingual immunotherapy achieved a score similar to the control group after 6 months of dose adjustment (equals to 12 months after treatment), that were CSMS(2.90±1.56, 2.90±1.88, 2.40±1.69), TNSS(4.70±2.98, 3.90±2.77, 3.80±2.45) and VAS(4.20±1.29, 4.50±1.65, 4.20±1.14) of 4 drops group, 5 drops group and control group; sublingual immunotherapy for patients with multiple allergens for 2 years finally achieved similar efficacy to patients with single allergen, with CSMS (2.30±0.50, 2.10±1.01, 1.90±1.01), TNSS (3.50±2.62, 3.70±2.62, 3.20±2.82) and VAS (4.50±1.00, 4.10±1.57, 3.80±1.54) in single allergen group, combined with 1-2 allergens group and combined with 3+ allergens group.Conclusions:Sublingual immunotherapy plays a corresponding role in the treatment of low-age children, multiple allergy children, and some children get better after dose adjustment.

Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate whether lncRNA ZFAS1 is involved in neuronal apoptosis and inflammation in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Materials and Methods: Ninety-six TLE patients were recruited, and their peripheral venous blood was gathered to determine Zfas1 expression with polymerase chain reaction. Neurons were separated from hippocampal tissue of newborn SD rats, and siZfas1 or pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 was transfected into the neurons. Inflammatory cytokines released by neurons were determined, and neuronal activities were evaluated through MTT assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. Results: Serum levels of Zfas1 were higher in TLE patients than in healthy controls (p<0.05). Furthermore, Zfas1 expression in neurons was raised by pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 and declined after silencing of Zfas1 (p<0.05). Transfection of pcDNA-Zfas1 weakened the viability and proliferation of neurons and increased neuronal apoptosis (p<0.05). Meanwhile, pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 transfection promoted lipopolysaccharide-induced release of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (p<0.05), and boosted NF-κB activation by elevating the expression of NF-κB p65, pIκBα, and IKKβ in neurons (p<0.05). Conclusion Our results indicated that lncRNA ZFAS1 exacerbates epilepsy development by promoting neuronal apoptosis and inflammation, implying ZFAS1 as a promising treatment target for epilepsy.

Objective:To compare the long-term oncological outcomes between laparoscopic and abdominal surgery in stage Ⅰa1 （lymph-vascular space invasion-positive, LVSI +）- Ⅰb1 cervical cancer patients with different tumor sizes. Methods:Based on the Big Database of Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Cancer in China (1538 project database), patients with stage Ⅰa1 （LVSI +）-Ⅰb1 cervical cancer who treated by laparoscopic or abdominal surgery were included. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) between the two surgical approaches were compared under 1∶1 propensity score matching (PSM) in different tumor diameter stratification. Results:(1) A total of 4 891 patients with stage Ⅰa1 （LVSI +）-Ⅰb1 cervical cancer who underwent laparoscopy or laparotomy from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016 were included in the 1538 project database. Among them, 1 926 cases in the laparoscopic group and 2 965 cases in the abdominal group. There were no difference in 5-year OS and 5-year DFS between the two groups before matching. Cox multivariate analysis suggested that laparoscopic surgery was associated with lower 5-year DFS ( HR=1.367, 95% CI: 1.105-1.690, P=0.004). After 1∶1 PSM matching, 1 864 patients were included in each group, and there was no difference in 5-year OS between the two groups （94.1% vs 95.4%, P=0.151）. While, the inferior 5-year DFS was observed in the laparoscopic group (89.0% vs 92.3%, P=0.004). And the laparoscopic surgery was associated with lower 5-year DFS ( HR=1.420, 95% CI: 1.109-1.818, P=0.006). (2) In stratification analysis of different tumor sizes, and there were no difference in 5-year OS and 5-year DFS between the laparoscopic group and abdominal group in tumor size ≤1 cm, >1-2 cm and >2-3 cm stratification (all P>0.05). Cox multivariate analysis showed that laparoscopic surgery were not related to 5-year OS and 5-year DFS ( P>0.05). In the stratification of tumor size >3-4 cm, there was no difference in 5-year OS between the two groups ( P>0.05). The 5-year DFS in the laparoscopic group was worse than that in the abdominal group (75.7% vs 85.8%, P=0.025). Cox multivariate analysis suggested that laparoscopic surgery was associated with lower 5-year DFS ( HR=1.705, 95% CI: 1.088-2.674, P=0.020). Conclusions:For patients with stage Ⅰa1 （LVSI +）-Ⅰb1 cervical cancer, laparoscopic surgery is associated with lower 5-year DFS, and the adverse effect of laparoscopic surgery on oncology prognosis is mainly reflected in patients with tumor size >3-4 cm. For patients with tumor sizes ≤1 cm, >1-2 cm and >2-3 cm, there are no difference in oncological prognosis between the two surgical approaches.

Objective:To explore the surgical effect and experience of endoscope-assisted excision for congenital nasal dermoid and sinus cyst (NDSC) in children.Methods:Fifty-three patients with congenital NDSC treated in Beijing Children′s Hospital from January 2007 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed, including 30 boys and 23 girls, with the age ranging from 9 to 145 months (mean age 35.6 months). The ultra-low-dose CT scan and MRI of the paranasal sinuses were performed for all patients. Excisions of NDSC under general anesthesia were performed for all patients, and surgical approaches were dependent on location and extent of the lesions according to radiographic workups. All intra-osseous patients and complicated superficial cases underwent surgical excision of NDSC and nasal reconstruction with the assistance of endoscope. Initial presentation, medical history, imaging workups, surgical approaches, complications, rates of recurrence and cosmetic outcomes were evaluated. Descriptive statistics was used for the results analysis.Results:Among 53 cases, the most common presentation included a nasal-glabella mass ( n=21, 39.6%), a dorsal punctum ( n=13, 24.5%) and a dorsal mass ( n=9, 17.0%). The sites of NDSC included nasal glabella ( n=22, 41.5%), nasal bridge ( n=27, 50.9%) and nasal tip ( n=4, 7.5%). Of all patients, 24 cases (45.3%) had superficial lesions, 19 cases (35.8%) had intraosseous extension into the frontonasal bones, 10 cases (18.9%) extended intracranially but remained extradural. Surgical approaches included transverse incision ( n=22, 41.5%), minimal midline vertical incision ( n=27, 50.9%) and external rhinoplasty ( n=4, 7.5%). All NDSC were successfully excised and no nasal reconstruction needed. All cases were followed up from 9 to 151 months with a mean of 67.3 months. Five patients (9.4%) with recurrence were observed and were managed successfully with reoperation. During the follow-up, no nasal deformity was noted, and cosmetic outcome was favorable for all patients. Conclusion:Endoscope-assisted excision has the advantage of clear vision, small trama and low recurrence rate for children with NDSC.

Objective:To compare the efficacy between laparoscopy and open surgery for gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) larger than 2 cm.Methods:A multicenter retrospective cohort study was performed. Inclusion criteria: long diameter of primary gastric GIST > 2 cm; undergoing laparoscopy or open surgery; diagnosis confirmed by postoperative pathology without distant metastasis; without preoperative targeted therapy. Clinicopathological data of 857 gastric GIST patients, including 320 in PLA General Hospital, 284 in Shanghai Renji Hospital, 175 in Wuhan Union Hospital and 78 in Tianjin Cancer Hospital, from January 2010 to May 2017 were retrospectively collected. There were 418 males and 439 females, mainly aged between 50 and 70 years old. Among 857 patients, 413 were in the laparoscopy group and 444 in the open group. The nearest neighbor matching of propensity score matching method was conducted with 1:1 matching based on tumor location and size between laparoscopy and open group to obtain samples of covariate equilibrium, and the caliper value was 0.04. The t test, χ 2 test and Wilcoxon rank test were used to compare short-term efficacy, and the Kaplan-Meier curve and log rank test were applied to compare long-term outcomes between the two groups. Results:After propensity score matching, laparoscopy group and open group both enrolled 293 cases. The baseline data, including age, gender, tumor location, tumor long diameter, NIH classification, etc. were not significantly different between the two groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the open group, the laparoscopy group had less intraoperative blood loss [<100 ml: 2.9% (155/293) vs. 36.2% (106/293), Z=-12.857, P<0.001], shorter time to postoperative feeding [(4.0±0.2) days vs. (5.3±0.9) days, t=1.505, P=0.003] and to the removal of drainage tube [(4.8±1.0) days vs. (6.5±1.0) days, t=1.847, P=0.008], and shorter postoperative hospital stay [(8.6±0.3) days vs. (10.5±0.3) days, t=4.235, P<0.001]. Subgroups analysis according to anatomical location: (1) Gastric cardia and pylorus: there were no statistically significant differences in perioperative parameters between the two groups (all P>0.05). (2) Stomach base: feeding time after surgery [(4.0±0.2) days vs. (4.5±0.2) days, t=0.512, P=0.038], drainage tube removal time [(5.1±0.4) days vs. (6.4±0.6) days, t=0.517, P=0.044], postoperative hospital stay [(8.0±0.5) days vs. (11.1±0.9) days, t=0.500, P=0.002] were all significantly shorter in the laparoscopy group as compared to the open group, while the differences in other perioperative parameters were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). (3) Lesser curvature of the stomach: the laparoscopy group had less intraoperative blood loss [<100 ml ratio: 58.1% (43/74) vs. 33.7% (25/74), Z=7.632, P=0.034], shorter gastric tube removal time [(2.7±0.2) days vs. (3.2±0.3) days, t=0.503, P=0.007], earlier postoperative passage of gas [(2.8±0.1) days vs. (3.4±0.2) days, t=0.532, P=0.030], earlier postoperative feeding [(3.6±0.2) days vs. (4.3±0.2) days, t=0.508, P=0.020], shorter drainage tube removal time [(4.2±0.4) days vs. (5.7±0.5) days, t=0.508, P=0.020] and postoperative hospital stay [(8.3±0.6) days vs. (10.7±0.3) days, t=0.502, P=0.006] as compared to the open group. (4) Great curvature of the stomach: the laparoscopy group presented less intraoperative blood loss [<100 ml ratio: 52.7% (39/74) vs. 36.5% (27/74), Z=7.681, P=0.032], earlier gastric tube removal [(2.6±0.2) days vs. (3.6±0.2) days, t=0.501, P=0.001], earlier postoperative passage of gas [(2.7±0.2) days vs. (3.4±0.2) days, t=0.501, P=0.016], earlier postoperative feeding [(3.6±0.2) days vs. (4.7±0.2) days, t=0.500, P=0.001], shorter drainage tube removal time [(4.0±0.5) days to (5.9±0.4) days, t=0.508, P=0.002] and postoperative hospital stay [(7.5±0.3) days to (9.5±0.1) days, t=0.500, P=0.001] than the open group. Subgroup analysis according to tumor size: (1) Tumor long diameter 2.0-5.0 cm: the laparoscopy group had earlier passage of gas [(2.9±0.1) days vs. (3.5±0.1) days, t=0.500, P=0.001], earlier postoperative feeding [(4.5±0.1) days vs. (5.0±0.2) days, t=0.501, P=0.013], shorter drainage tube removal time [(4.8±0.3) days vs. (6.0±0.3) days, t=0.511, P=0.008] and postoperative hospital stay [(8.1±0.4) days to (10.1±0.3) days, t=0.513, P=0.001] than the open group. (2) Tumor long diameter 5.1-10.0 cm: in the laparoscopic group, postoperative feeding time [(4.0±0.2) days vs. (4.7±0.2) days, t=0.506, P=0.015], drainage tube removal time [(4.6±0.4) days vs. (6.4±0.5)) days, t=0.501, P=0.004], postoperative hospital stay [(8.2±0.3) days vs. (10.9±0.6) days, t=0.500, P=0.001] were all shorter than those in the open group. No intraoperative and postoperative complications were observed in each group. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rates of the laparoscopy group and the open group were 95.4% and 91.6%, respectively ( P=0.734), and the 5-year overall survival rates were 93.8% and 90.8% ( P=0.691), respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions:In experienced medical centers, laparoscopic surgery for gastric GIST larger than 2 cm is safe and feasible, and can achieve comparable efficacy with open surgery. For gastric GISTs which do not locate in the greater curvature and the anterior wall of the stomach, and whose long diameter is ≤5 cm, laparoscopic surgery does not increase the risk of recurrence and metastasis, and can accelerate postoperative recovery.