1.Causal relationship between gut microbiota and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Xuanyu WU ; Xiang XIAO ; Jiajing CHEN ; Xiaomin YU ; Han YANG
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2026;33(04):584-591
Objective To investigate the causal relationship between gut microbiota and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data of gut microbiota and IPF were obtained from MiBioGen and IEU OpenGWAS, respectively. Instrumental variables were screened by means of significance, linkage disequilibrium, weak instrumental variable screening, and removal of confounding factors (genetics, smoking, host characteristics). Inverse variance weighted (IVW) was used as the main Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis method, and the weighted median, simple mode, MR-Egger, and weighted mode were used to perform MR to reveal the causal effect of gut microbiota and IPF. The Cochrane's Q, leave-one-out, MR-Egger-intercept, and Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) and Steiger tests were used to analyze the heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, outliers, and directionality, respectively. Results IVW analysis results showed that Actinobacteria [OR=1.773, 95%CI (1.323, 2.377), P<0.001], Erysipelatoclostridium [OR=2.077, 95%CI (1.107, 3.896), P=0.023], and Streptococcus [OR=1.35, 95%CI (1.100, 1.657), P=0.004] could increase the risk of IPF. Bifidobacterium [OR=0.668, 95%CI (0.620, 0.720), P<0.001], Ruminococcus [OR=0.434, 95%CI (0.222, 0.848), P=0.015], and Tyzzerella [OR=0.479, 95%CI (0.304, 0.755), P=0.001] could reduce the risk of IPF. No significant heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, outliers, and reverse causality were found. Conclusion Actinobacteria, Erysipelatoclostridium and Streptococcus may increase the risk of IPF, while Bifidobacterium, Ruminococcus and Tyzzerella may reduce the risk of IPF. Regulation of the above gut microbiota may become a new direction in the study of the pathogenesis of IPF.
2.Efficacy and safety of lenvatinib combined with sintilimab versus atezolizumab combined with bevacizumab in treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
Jianying WEI ; Wei SUN ; Xiaomin LIU ; Minghua YU ; Wendong LI ; Jinglong CHEN
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2026;42(6):1335-1341
ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy and safety of lenvatinib combined with sintilimab versus atezolizumab combined with bevacizumab in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), aims to provide real-world evidence for clinical personalized treatment. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for 78 patients with uHCC who were admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, from January 1, 2023, to May 31, 2025, and according to the treatment modality, they were divided into lenvatinib+sintilimab group (L+S group with 49 patients) and atezolizumab+bevacizumab group (A+T group with 29 patients). The primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and the secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and the incidence rate of adverse events. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and the log-rank test was used for comparison between groups. ResultsThe 78 patients had a median PFS of 9 months and a median OS of 15 months. The median PFS was 11 months in the L+S group and 7 months in the A+T group, with no significant difference between the two groups (χ2=0.247, P=0.619); the median OS was 19 months in the L+S group and 12 months in the A+T group, with a significant difference between the two groups (χ2=6.565, P=0.010). There were no significant differences between the two groups in complete remission, partial remission, stable disease, disease progression, DCR, and ORR (all P>0.05). The L+S group had a significantly higher incidence rate of adverse events than the A+T group (95.9% vs 75.9%, P=0.007), and there was a significant difference in the incidence rate of grade ≥3 adverse events between the L+S group and the A+T group (65.3% vs 34.5%, P=0.008). ConclusionCompared with atezolizumab combined with bevacizumab, lenvatinib combined with sintilimab can improve the OS of patients with uHCC, while atezolizumab combined with bevacizumab has a better safety profile.
3.A sampling survey on personnel composition and current status of business operations in transfusion departments of medical institutions nationwide
Xiaomin LIU ; Yuan ZHUANG ; Yang YU ; Rong XIA
Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion 2026;39(7):887-894
Objective: To investigate the current status of personnel structure and service development of blood transfusion departments/blood banks in medical institutions across China, and to provide evidence for discipline construction. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 3 117 medical institutions in 31 provinces via the Chinese Medical Doctor Association-Blood Transfusion Physician Branch. Data on department naming, staff composition, professional titles, background, and services were analyzed descriptively. Results: Overall, 71.9% of departments were named "Blood Transfusion Department", while 26.4% were still "Laboratory/Blood Bank". Technicians accounted for 86%, physicians only 9%, and nurses 3%. The average number of physicians per tertiary hospital was 0.92, compared to 0.12 in secondary hospitals, with marked regional disparities. Among physicians, 44.5% had a laboratory background and 43.9% clinical background; 3.3% of physicians switched to technician due to promotion barriers. Basic serological tests (ABO/RhD:99.4%; antibody screening:96.2%) were widely available, but advanced tests (antibody identification:18.7%; platelet antibody: 18.2%) remained insufficient. Overall, 70.5% of departments offered therapeutic procedures, mainly autotransfusion (24.5%) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) collection (20.4%); plasma exchange was only 15.9%, and 29.5% performed no therapeutic services. Conclusion: Transfusion departments in China are still in the early stage of transitioning from traditional medical technology departments to clinical disciplines. The development of the discipline is constrained by administrative disciplinary positioning, talent construction and internal service capacity. Meanwhile, emerging services including transfusion consultations and specialized outpatient clinics have gained initial momentum.
4.Si Junzitang Ameliorates Alzheimer's Disease by Regulating Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathway
Minyan SUN ; Shaofeng WEI ; Xiaomin WANG ; Kehan GAO ; Jianhao YANG ; Ziran XIE ; Yu ZHANG ; Qin ZHENG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(17):23-37
ObjectiveTo explore the mechanisms through which Si Junzitang (SJZD) ameliorates Alzheimer's disease (AD) induced by scopolamine (SCOP) in mice and the PC12 cell model induced by H2O2 based on the Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway. MethodsIn the animal experiments, an AD model was established in mice by intraperitoneal injection of SCOP (3 mg·kg-1). Morris water maze and open field tests (OFT) were conducted to assess learning and memory abilities. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Nissl staining were performed to observe pathological changes in neurons. Immunofluorescence was used to detect amyloid β-protein1-42 (Aβ1-42) expression, and immunohistochemistry was employed to detect phosphorylated (p)-Tau expression. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was employed to observe ultrastructural changes in hippocampal neurons and synapses. Biochemical methods were used to measure the levels of acetylcholine (ACh), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Real-time PCR and Western blot were employed to measure the mRNA and protein levels of molecules in the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in the hippocampus. In the cell experiments, a PC12 cell model of oxidative damage model was established with H2O2. Cell count kit-8 (CCK-8) assays and flow cytometry were adopted to measure cell viability and apoptosis rates, and Western blot was employed to quantify the expression levels of proteins in the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. ResultsThe animal experiments showed that compared with the model group, the SJZD and donepezil groups showed shortened escape latency (P<0.01), increased time in the target quadrant and platform crossings, and increased movement distance and duration in the central area of the open field (P<0.05, P<0.01). HE and Nissl staining showed more organized neurons and increased Nissl bodies in the drug intervention groups (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the Aβ1-42 and p-Tau expression levels were downregulated (P<0.05, P<0.01). TEM revealed reduced ultrastructural damage in hippocampal neurons and synapses in the drug intervention groups. In addition, the drug intervention groups showed declined levels of MDA, LDH, and AChE (P<0.05, P<0.01), elevated levels of SOD, CAT, and ACh (P<0.05, P<0.01), reduced Keap1 expression and increased Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1 expression in the hippocampus (P<0.05, P<0.01). The cell experiments showed that compared with the model group, the SJZD-containing serum increased the cell viability (P<0.05, P<0.01), and decreased total apoptosis rates (P<0.05, P<0.01). The drug intervention groups showed upregulated protein levels of Nrf2 and HO-1 and downregulated protein level of Keap1 (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionSJZD demonstrates protective effects against SCOP-induced AD in mice and H2O2-induced damage in PC12 cells through antioxidant mechanisms mediated by the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.
5.Liquid chip technology and its application in clinical laboratory diagnosis
Haodong GAO ; Xinyi TANG ; Xinyang HU ; Wenzhuo ZHAO ; Wei SUN ; Xiaomin YU ; Misheng ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;59(4):542-548
Liquid chip technology is based on liquid carrier. Comparing to the traditional detection methods, it has unique characteristics such as multiple detection ability, high throughput, high sensitivity, good repeatability, less sample and fast analysis. It can analyse proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules in liquid. At present, it has been widely used in the laboratory diagnosis of tumors, autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, cytokines related diseases, as well as infectious diseases. This article discussed the principles, detection performances, clinical applications and future prospects of liquid chip technology.
6.Building a child-friendly hospital of multi-campuses based on lean six sigma method
Jing GAO ; Shurui MA ; Yingying YU ; Xiaomin ZHANG ; Fanlong BU ; Chenning YAO ; Senqi YANG ; Hao WU ; Zhe CAO ; Qi ZHOU ; Weilin LI ; Jie ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Hospital Administration 2025;41(8):580-586
Lean six sigma (LSS) emphasizes patient demand-oriented, and continuously optimizing prolesses to achieve efficiency and standardization in medical services. Starting in 2021, a specialized children′s hospital (comprising one main campus and three branch campuses) introduced the LSS management method. Through define, measure, analyze, improve, and control, the hospital utilized tools such as questionnaire surveys, SIPOC models, and fishbone diagrams to identify pain points in the building of multi-campus child-friendly hospital and develop improvement measures.To address the main issues of insufficient cross-campus collaboration, significant disparities in service quality among different campuses, unclear functional positioning of each campus, and inadequate integration with social security mechanisms, the hospital implemented a " homogeneity-differentiation-coordination" management mode. The hospital implemented unified diagnosis and treatment standards and clinical pathways, carried out remote consultations and expert rotations, completed mutual recognition of examination and testing results, optimized child friendly labeling and child friendly environment, and built a " hospital-to-hospitals, hospital to medical schools, and hospital to community health centers" linkage platform, etc., to promote the standardization of diagnosis and treatment processes, clear functional positioning of the hospital area, and efficient resource allocation. Through practice, the outpatient appointment rate and patient satisfaction rate in the main hospital had increased from 86.72% and 98.64% in January December 2021 to 91.87% and 99.72% in January December 2024, respectively; The patient waiting time had been shortened from 26.54 minutes to 21.94 minutes, and the efficiency of medical treatment and service experience had been significantly improved. As of 2024, mutual recognition of 214 inspection and testing items had been achieved cross hospital campuses, forming a collaborative pattern of " main hospital leading, campuses support, and resource complementarity", and significantly improving the level of collaboration and child friendly connotation among multi-campus. This practice explored the integration path of multi-campus collaborative governance and child-friendly services, which could provide reference and inspiration for the similar hospitals.
7.Clinical-MRI radiomics combined model for differentiating borderline ovarian tumor from epithelial ovarian cancer
Xiaomin LIU ; Yu ZOU ; Jingjing YU ; Xiaochen WANG ; Yuhan LIN ; Jiale QIN
Chinese Journal of Medical Imaging Technology 2025;41(10):1701-1705
Objective To explore the value of clinical-MRI radiomics combined model for differentiating borderline ovarian tumor(BOT)from epithelial ovarian cancer(EOC).Methods Totally 139 patients with BOT(BOT group)and 307 patients with EOC(EOC group)confirmed by postoperative pathology and underwent preoperative pelvic MRI were retrospectively enrolled and randomly divided into training set(n=312)and test set(n=134)at a ratio of 7∶3.Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent clinical predictors for differentiating BOT and EOC,then a clinical model was constructed.Radiomics features were extracted from the volumes of interest(VOI)of lesions on T2WI,diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)images,respectively,and single-sequence and multi-sequence MRI radiomics models were built using extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost)based on data in training set.The optimal MRI radiomics model was selected according to the highest area under the curve(AUC)in test set,and a clinical-MRI radiomics combined model was constructed combined the optimal radiomics model with independent clinical predictors.The performances of clinical model,the optimal MRI radiomics model and the combined model for differentiating BOT and EOC were compared in test set.SHapley Additive exPlanations(SHAP)analysis was applied to interpret key predictive features in the best model.Results Patients' age,carbohydrate antigen 153(CA153)and carbohydrate antigen 125(CA125)were all independent predictors for differentiating BOT and EOC(all P<0.05).Multi-sequence MRI radiomics model was the optimal MRI radiomics model.The combined model showed superior performance(AUC=0.929)for discriminating BOT and EOC compared with clinical model(AUC=0.881)and multi-sequence MRI radiomics model(AUC=0.871)(both P<0.05).SHAP beeswarm plot revealed that the top 10 important features of combined model included age,CA153 and CA125,as well as entropy,kurtosis and gray level non-uniformity from ADC and DWI sequences.Conclusion Clinical-MRI radiomics combined model based on multi-sequence MRI radiomics features and clinical features could be used to effectively differentiate BOT from EOC.
8.Research status of retinal cell death in diabetic retinopathy
Xinyue YU ; Xiaomin ZHANG ; Xiaorong LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Ophthalmology 2025;43(11):1076-1080
Programmed cell death is an important defense mechanism of the body, which monitors internal lesions and defends external infections to maintain the stability of the body.In the past, there were two main types of cell death: apoptosis and necrosis.With the development of scientific research, new cell death modes, such as pyroptosis and ferroptosis, have attracted much attention and are involved in the occurrence and development of diabetic retinopathy (DR).Many pathogenic factors, such as oxidative stress, hyperglycemia and inflammation, lead to the death of retinal cells in different ways, such as apoptosis, pyroptosis and ferroptosis.Apoptosis is the earliest pathological response of DR, which occurs at the initial stage of oxidative stress, and the integrity of cell membranes is maintained at the early stage of apoptosis.Apoptotic cells are cleared by phagocytes in the tissue before dissolution, which avoids unnecessary inflammation.Pyroptosis is activated by Caspase-1, then cleaves GSDMD, which can lead to pore formation and osmotic cell lysis, resulting in inflammation and immune response.Ferroptosis involves lipid peroxidation and abnormal iron homeostasis.Lipid peroxidation and glutathione depletion are the main markers of ferroptosis.The three cell death modes are independent and interrelated, and play a role in the occurrence and development of diseases together with other cell death modes.This article reviews the current status of cell apoptosis, pyroptosis and ferroptosis in DR.
9.Liquid chip technology and its application in clinical laboratory diagnosis
Haodong GAO ; Xinyi TANG ; Xinyang HU ; Wenzhuo ZHAO ; Wei SUN ; Xiaomin YU ; Misheng ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;59(4):542-548
Liquid chip technology is based on liquid carrier. Comparing to the traditional detection methods, it has unique characteristics such as multiple detection ability, high throughput, high sensitivity, good repeatability, less sample and fast analysis. It can analyse proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules in liquid. At present, it has been widely used in the laboratory diagnosis of tumors, autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, cytokines related diseases, as well as infectious diseases. This article discussed the principles, detection performances, clinical applications and future prospects of liquid chip technology.
10.Clinical characteristics and genotypes of patients with Congenital fibrinogen disorders
Haijian WANG ; Shuang ZHENG ; Xiaomin YU ; Kaiwen WU ; Misheng ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Medical Genetics 2025;42(3):264-273
Objective:To explore the clinical features and genetic mutation sites of 28 patients with Congenital fibrinogen disorders (CFDs).Methods:A total of 28 unrelated CFDs patients admitted to Wenzhou People′s Hospital from June 2018 to April 2023 were enrolled into this research. A total of 2.7 mL of peripheral blood was collected from each patient for coagulation function tests, which included thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen activity (Fg: C), fibrinogen antigen (Fg: Ag), and gene detection. The Sanger sequencing method was employed to verify variations in the fibrinogen (Fg) protein-coding gene across 28 patients. Bioinformatics analyses, including harmfulness analysis, conservation analysis across different species, and spatial simulation predictions of variant proteins, were conducted by PolyPhen-2, PROVEAN, SnapGene, and Pymol softwares on the variant sites of these patients. Pathogenicity ratings for the detected variant sites were performed in accordance with the Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation of Sequence variants by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) (hereafter referred to as the ACMG Guidelines). This study received approval from the Ethics Committee of Wenzhou People′s Hospital (Approval No. KY-2023-269), and informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment.Results:The clinical and genetic characteristics of 28 patients with CFDs in this study were as follows. ①Clinical data: Among the 28 patients, 2 cases were diagnosed with type I CFDs, while 26 cases were diagnosed with type II CFDs. And 50.0% (14/28) of the patients exhibited no clinical manifestations, while 28.6% (8/28) presented with bleeding manifestations, and 7.1% (2/28) exhibited thrombus manifestations, 3.6% (1/28) experienced both bleeding and thrombosis. Among female patients, 13.0% (3/23) exhibited a history of habitual abortion. All patients demonstrated TT and a significant decrease in Fg: C. ②Sanger sequencing revealed a total of 10 types of heterozygous variations in the FGA, FGB, and FGG genes across 28 patients, distributed among 9 loci. The variation at the γ c. 902G>A/c.901C>T accounted for the highest proportion (35.7%, 10/28), followed by the Bβ c. 569 A>G (28.6%, 8/28). ③Biological informatics analysis: the Aα c. 180+ 1G>T mutation was predicted to be highly deleterious. And the Aα c. 104G>A, Bβ c. 425T>G, Bβ c. 586C>T, and γ c. 902G>A/c.901C>T variations were also predicted to be harmful. Conservation analysis indicates that the 9 variant sites were highly conserved among homo sapiens, musculus, ovis aries, scrofa, and rattus. Spatial conformation analysis revealed that some variations lead to an increase or decrease in the number of hydrogen bonds. ④ACMG guideline rating analysis: Among the ten variations in the Fg protein-coding genes FGA, FGB, and FGG identified in 28 patients, 9 variations (Aα c. 104G>A, Aα c. 180+ 1G>T, Bβ c. 425T>G, Bβ c.569A>G, Bβ c. 586C>T, Bβ c. 643G>A, γ c. 901C>T, γ c. 902G>A, γ c. 1001A>C) were classified as pathogenic, while one variation (γ c. 908C>G) was classified as likely pathogenic. Conclusion:In this study, the majority of CFDs patients are diagnosed with type II CFDs, with 50% presenting clinical symptoms predominantly manifesting as bleeding, thrombosis, and recurrent miscarriage. The mutation hotspots are mainly located in exon 2 of FGA, exon 4 of FGB, and exon 8 of FGG.

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