OBJECTIVE To explore the antidepressant mechanism of Wenyang jieyu granules （WYJYG） via the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 （NLRP3）/apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD （ASC）/Caspase-1 pathway. METHODS A rat model of depression was established by chronic unpredictable mild stress combined with single-housing for 42 consecutive days.The experiment set up blank group， model group， MCC950 （NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor） group （10 mg/kg）， fluoxetine group （positive control，2.08 mg/kg），low-dose WYJYG（3.78 g/kg） and high-dose WYJYG group （7.56 g/kg），with 10 rats in each group. From the 22nd day of the experiment， rats in the fluoxetine group， low-dose and high-dose WYJYG groups were intragastrically administered with the corresponding drugs and intraperitoneally injected with an equal volume of normal saline. Rats in the MCC950 group were intraperitoneally injected with MCC950 at the corresponding concentration and intragastrically administered with an equal volume of distilled water. Rats in the blank group and model group were given an equal volume of distilled water by gavage and an equal volume of normal saline by intraperitoneal injection. All interventions were performed once a day for 21 consecutive days. Behavioral tests were conducted once a week. After the last administration， the contents of ASC， ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 （Iba1）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and IL-18 in hippocampal tissues were detected. The protein expressions of NLRP3， cluster of differentiation 68 （CD68）， Caspase-1， B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， and Bcl-2-associated X protein were determined， and neuronal apoptosis was observed. RESULTS After the last administration， compared with the model group， the open-field activity time was significantly prolonged （ P ＜0.05）， and the latency to feed in a novel environment was significantly shortened （ P ＜0.05） in rats of the high-dose WYJYG group. In hippocampal tissue， the contents of ASC， Iba1， IL-1β， and IL-18， as well as the protein expression levels of NLRP3， Caspase-1， and CD68， and the positive rate of neuronal apoptosis were all significantly decreased/downregulated （ P ＜0.05）. Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly upregulated （ P ＜0.05）， and the density of neuronal apoptosis-positive cells was significantly reduced （ P ＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS WYJYG play on antidepressant role by inhibiting the NLRP3/ASC/Caspase-1 pathway， reducing microglia-mediated neuroinflammation， and inhibiting hippocampal neurons apoptosis.

Objective To explore the sleep quality and mental fatigue level in elderly patients with cerebrovascular small disease(CSVD).Methods A total of 222 patients aged over 65 years old hospitalized due to chronic diseases in Department of Neurology of the Affiliated Jiangning Hospi-tal of Nanjing Medical University from August 2022 to June 2024 were recruited prospectively and continuously.According to the CSVD score,they were divided into a CSVD group(CSVD score≥1,148 cases)and a non-CSVD group(CSVD score=0,74 cases).All the patients were evaluated by sleep quality,fatigue and neuropsychological scale when they were fully cooperated and in good condition.Subsequently,the patients in the CSVD group were further assigned into a good sleep subgroup(117 cases)and a poor sleep subgroup(31 patients).Results The CSVD group had significantly higher total score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI),sleep quality score,sleep disturbance score,total score of self-rating fatigue,and mental fatigue score than the non-CSVD group(P＜0.01).The sleep quality score,sleep disturbance score,and mental fatigue score were risk factors for CSVD(P＜0.05).The mental fatigue score was significantly higher in the CSVD patients with poor sleep than those with good sleep(4.13±1.15 vs 2.50±1.92,P＜0.01).Conclusion Elderly CSVD patients were more likely to have decreased sleep quality and mental fatigue,and among them,those with poor sleep quality are prone to having mental fatigue than those with good sleep.

Under stress,the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein(CIRP)is translocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and subsequently released outside the cell.Extracellular CIRP(eCIRP),acting as a damage-associated mo-lecular pattern,amplifies inflammation through various mechanisms and leads to an uncontrolled inflammatory response,thereby contributing to the occurrence and progression of sepsis and other critical pathological processes.Certain CIRP-tar-geting drugs have demonstrated promising anti-sepsis effects through the reduction of CIRP expression,the decrease of eCIRP release,the neutralization of eCIRP,or the intervention in receptor binding.This review examines the release mechanism of CIRP and the role of eCIRP in the development of sepsis,with the aim of providing new insights for the pre-vention and treatment of sepsis by targeting eCIRP.

OBJECTIVE To conduct continuous targeted surveillance on patients undergoing pancreatoduodenecto-my in a three-A comprehensive hospital,to understand the current status of postoperative surgical site infection(SSI),identify risk factors and provide references for effective prevention and control measures.METHODS A targeted surveillance of SSI was conducted on 812 patients who underwent open pancreatoduodenectomy in the General Surgery Department of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from 2020 to 2023.Statistical analysis was performed on various indicators,the incidence rate of SSI.RESULTS There were 42 cases of SSI in patients under-going pancreatoduodenectomy,with an incidence rate of 5.17％.Among them,there were 2 cases of deep surgi-cal incision infection and 40 cases of organ(or lacuna)infection.There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of SSI across different years,but there was a decreasing trend over the years(P=0.227).Mul-tivariate logistic regression analysis showed that incision cleanliness(contamination)and intraoperative blood loss(＞250 ml)were risk factors for SSI,while the tumor location(pancreas)was a protective factor for SSI(P＜0.05).The surgeon-specific infection incidence rate ranged from 0.00％to 20.00％,with the highest infection rate observed in Surgeon No.1(20.00％).After adjustment,the top three surgeons with the highest specific in-fection rates were Surgeon No.1(50.00％),Surgeon No.5(34.49％)and Surgeon No.20(32.05％).Among the samples from 42 patients with SSI,70 pathogenic bacteria were detected,mainly Escherichia coli(18.57％)and Enterococcus faecium(14.29％).The hospital stay for patients with SSI after surgery was 25.00(20.00,34.00)days,while the hospital stay for patients without SSI was 19.00(16.00,24.00)days.Patients had an ex-tended hospital stay of 6 days due to SSI(P＜0.001).CONCLUSIONS SSI in patients undergoing pancreatoduode-nectomy is mainly organ(or lacuna)infection.Incision cleanliness(contamination)and intraoperative blood loss(＞250 ml)can increase the incidence rate of SSI in patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.The specific in-fection rates vary among different surgeons,with the main pathogenic bacteria causing SSI being E.coli and E.faecium.The occurrence of SSI prolongs patients'hospital stay.

Under stress,the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein(CIRP)is translocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and subsequently released outside the cell.Extracellular CIRP(eCIRP),acting as a damage-associated mo-lecular pattern,amplifies inflammation through various mechanisms and leads to an uncontrolled inflammatory response,thereby contributing to the occurrence and progression of sepsis and other critical pathological processes.Certain CIRP-tar-geting drugs have demonstrated promising anti-sepsis effects through the reduction of CIRP expression,the decrease of eCIRP release,the neutralization of eCIRP,or the intervention in receptor binding.This review examines the release mechanism of CIRP and the role of eCIRP in the development of sepsis,with the aim of providing new insights for the pre-vention and treatment of sepsis by targeting eCIRP.

OBJECTIVE To conduct continuous targeted surveillance on patients undergoing pancreatoduodenecto-my in a three-A comprehensive hospital,to understand the current status of postoperative surgical site infection(SSI),identify risk factors and provide references for effective prevention and control measures.METHODS A targeted surveillance of SSI was conducted on 812 patients who underwent open pancreatoduodenectomy in the General Surgery Department of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from 2020 to 2023.Statistical analysis was performed on various indicators,the incidence rate of SSI.RESULTS There were 42 cases of SSI in patients under-going pancreatoduodenectomy,with an incidence rate of 5.17％.Among them,there were 2 cases of deep surgi-cal incision infection and 40 cases of organ(or lacuna)infection.There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of SSI across different years,but there was a decreasing trend over the years(P=0.227).Mul-tivariate logistic regression analysis showed that incision cleanliness(contamination)and intraoperative blood loss(＞250 ml)were risk factors for SSI,while the tumor location(pancreas)was a protective factor for SSI(P＜0.05).The surgeon-specific infection incidence rate ranged from 0.00％to 20.00％,with the highest infection rate observed in Surgeon No.1(20.00％).After adjustment,the top three surgeons with the highest specific in-fection rates were Surgeon No.1(50.00％),Surgeon No.5(34.49％)and Surgeon No.20(32.05％).Among the samples from 42 patients with SSI,70 pathogenic bacteria were detected,mainly Escherichia coli(18.57％)and Enterococcus faecium(14.29％).The hospital stay for patients with SSI after surgery was 25.00(20.00,34.00)days,while the hospital stay for patients without SSI was 19.00(16.00,24.00)days.Patients had an ex-tended hospital stay of 6 days due to SSI(P＜0.001).CONCLUSIONS SSI in patients undergoing pancreatoduode-nectomy is mainly organ(or lacuna)infection.Incision cleanliness(contamination)and intraoperative blood loss(＞250 ml)can increase the incidence rate of SSI in patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.The specific in-fection rates vary among different surgeons,with the main pathogenic bacteria causing SSI being E.coli and E.faecium.The occurrence of SSI prolongs patients'hospital stay.

Objective To explore the sleep quality and mental fatigue level in elderly patients with cerebrovascular small disease(CSVD).Methods A total of 222 patients aged over 65 years old hospitalized due to chronic diseases in Department of Neurology of the Affiliated Jiangning Hospi-tal of Nanjing Medical University from August 2022 to June 2024 were recruited prospectively and continuously.According to the CSVD score,they were divided into a CSVD group(CSVD score≥1,148 cases)and a non-CSVD group(CSVD score=0,74 cases).All the patients were evaluated by sleep quality,fatigue and neuropsychological scale when they were fully cooperated and in good condition.Subsequently,the patients in the CSVD group were further assigned into a good sleep subgroup(117 cases)and a poor sleep subgroup(31 patients).Results The CSVD group had significantly higher total score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI),sleep quality score,sleep disturbance score,total score of self-rating fatigue,and mental fatigue score than the non-CSVD group(P＜0.01).The sleep quality score,sleep disturbance score,and mental fatigue score were risk factors for CSVD(P＜0.05).The mental fatigue score was significantly higher in the CSVD patients with poor sleep than those with good sleep(4.13±1.15 vs 2.50±1.92,P＜0.01).Conclusion Elderly CSVD patients were more likely to have decreased sleep quality and mental fatigue,and among them,those with poor sleep quality are prone to having mental fatigue than those with good sleep.

The neurovascular unit (NVU) is highly responsible for cerebral homeostasis and its dysfunction emerges as a critical contributor to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Hence, rescuing NVU dysfunction might be a viable approach to AD treatments. Here, we fabricated a self-regulated muti-functional nano-modulator (siR/PIO@RP) that can intelligently navigate to damaged blood-brain barrier and release therapeutical cargoes for synergetic AD therapy. The resulting siR/PIO@RP enables self-regulation of its distribution in accordance with the physio/pathological state (low/high RAGE expression) of the target site via a feedback loop. siR/PIO@RP is capable of performing intricate tasks and goes beyond the capabilities of single-target therapeutic agents utilized in AD therapy, such as reducing cerebral Aβ load, relieving neuroinflammation, and alleviating the dysfunction of NVU. Overall, the current study provides proof of concept that normalizing NVU holds promise as a means of alleviating AD symptoms.

Objective To investigate the nutritional status in patients with aplastic anemia (AA), and to analyze the influencing factors. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 152 patients with AA admitted to West China Hospital between March 2019 and March 2022. The nutritional status of all patients was screened by Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002). According to the screening criteria, the patients were divided into control group (46 cases, total NRS2002 score <3 points) and malnutrition risk group (106 cases, total NRS2002 score ≥3 points). The body mass index (BMI), disease grading [severe AA (SAA), non-severe AA (NSAA)], levels of hemoglobin (Hb), serum albumin (Alb), serum ferritin (SF), total protein (TP), folic acid (FA), vitamin B12 (VB12), serum iron (SI), unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) were recorded and compared between the two groups. The risk factors of malnutrition were analyzed by logistic regression analysis, and levels of the related influencing factors were compared. The association between nutritional risk and prognosis in patients with AA was analyzed. Results Among the 152 patients with AA, 69.74% of them were at risk of malnutrition. There was no significant difference in the BMI, TP, FA and VB12 between the malnutrition risk group and the control group (P>0.05). The proportion of SAA cases in the malnutrition risk group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The levels of Alb and UIBC in the malnutrition risk group were significantly lower than those in the control group, while the levels of SF, SI and TSAT were higher than those in the control group. In addition, the levels of SF, SI and TSAT in SAA patients were higher than those in NSAA group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that high levels of SF, SI and TSAT, and high proportion of SAA cases were risk factors of malnutrition in AA patients (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse prognosis in the malnutrition risk group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion Patients with AA have a higher risk of malnutrition, and high levels of SF, SI and TSAT are risk factors for malnutrition. The greater the risk of malnutrition, the more severe the poor prognosis.

Objective:To summarize the clinical data of anti-factor H antibody-associated atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) in children, and analyze the risk factors for disease recurrence and poor prognosis.Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted on 52 children with anti-factor H antibody-associated aHUS in Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from November 2011 to November 2021.Patient information about the genetic background, clinical and renal pathological characteristics, treatment, and prognosis were collected.Then, the disease recurrence and prognosis were analyzed using the survival curve and Cox regression model. Results:In 52 children, there were 33 males and 19 females.The average age of onset for aHUS was 2.4-12.8 years, and 92.3%(48/52) of the children developed symptoms at the age of 4-12 years.The copy numbers of complement factor-H-related 1 (CFHR1) and complement factor-H-related 3 (CFHR3) genes were calculated in 42 children.Among the 42 cases, 18 cases (42.9%) had CFHR1 homozygous deletion, and 83.3% (15/18) of them also had CFHR3 homozygous deletion.All the patients were given plasma therapy.Besides, 76.9% (40/52) of the children were treated with immunosuppressive therapy (steroid and/or immunosuppressant) at the first onset of the disease.About 86.5%(45/52 cases) of the patients received immunosuppressive therapy in the course of disease, and the immunosuppressive treatment lasted for 6-20 months in total.The median follow-up time was 58 (28, 91) months.Among 52 patients, only 12 patients (23.1%) suffered disease recurrence.The relapse-free survival rate in children with CFHR1 homozygous deletion was significantly lower than that in children with non-homozygous deletion ( χ2=4.700, P=0.030). The relapse-free survival rate in children with CFHR1 and CFHR3 homozygous deletions was also significantly lower than that in other children ( χ2=4.181, P=0.041). At the end of the follow-up, 73.1%(38/52) of the children had normal renal function and no persistent proteinuria or hypertension.23.1%(12/52 cases) of the children had persistent proteinuria and/or hypertension.One child had Stage 3-4 chronic kidney disease, and 1 child was dialysis dependent. Conclusions:Anti-factor H antibody-associated aHUS is prone to occur in children aged between 4-12 years old, who respond well to plasma therapy and immunosuppressive therapy.Children with anti-factor H antibody-associated aHUS and CFHR1 and CFHR3 homozygous deletions have a high recurrence rate.Treatment with immunosuppressive therapy and assessment of the copy number of CFHR1 and CFHR3 genes in the early stage of the disease are important for preventing disease recurrence and improving prognosis.