Colonic mucosal healing is the ultimate goal of ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment, but it remains difficult to realize. Given the higher incidence of UC in males and the beneficial effect of estrogen on UC, we conducted this study to examine the therapeutic potential of estrogen receptor β (ERβ), the primary ER subtype in colon, on mucosal healing in UC. Our study is the first to report that ERβ activation degree was positively correlated with mucosal healing in patients with UC. Furthermore, ERβ activation enhanced mucosal healing in mice with dextran sulfate sodium-induced and biopsy-induced colonic injuries. Mechanistically, ERβ activation promoted autophagy of colonic epithelial cells by inhibiting branched-chain amino acid transport, leading to focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activation. Activated FAK promoted focal adhesion turnover and colonic epithelial cell migration, ultimately facilitating mucosal healing. ERβ ^-/- colitis mice exhibited impaired mucosal healing compared to wild-type littermates, highlighting the crucial effect of ERβ. Importantly, combination with ERβ-agonist diarylpropionitrile enhanced the amelioration of 5-aminosalicylic acid, a standard UC treatment agent, against mouse colitis. These findings attest to the crucial role of ERβ activation in colonic mucosal healing and may further inform the development of novel strategies for UC treatment.

Objective To observe the correlations of chest CT quantitative parameters in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD)with blood eosinophil(EOS)level.Methods Chest CT data of 162 AECOPD patients with elevated eosinophils were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into low EOS group(n=105)and high EOS group(n=57)according to the absolute counting of blood EOS.The quantitative CT parameters,including the number of whole lung bronchi and the volume of blood vessels,low-attenuation area percentage(LAA％)of whole lung,of left/right lung and each lobe of lung,as well as the luminal diameter(LD),wall thickness(WT),wall area(WA)and WA percentage of total bronchial cross-section(WA％)of grade 3 to 8 bronchi were compared between groups.Spearman correlations were performed to analyze the correlations of quantitative CT parameters with blood EOS level.Results LAA％of the whole lung,of the left/right lung and each lobe of lung,as well as of the upper lobe of right lung LDgrade4,middle lobe of right lung WTgrade5,upper lobe of right lung WAgrade4,middle lobe of right lung WAgrade5 and lower lobe of left lung WAgrade3 in low EOS group were all higher than those in high EOS group(all P＜0.05).Except for the upper lobe of right lung LDgrade4,the above quantitative CT indexes being significant different between groups were all weakly and negatively correlated with blood EOS level(r=-0.335 to-0.164,all P＜0.05).Conclusion Chest CT quantitative parameters of AECOPD patients were correlated with blood EOS level,among which LAA％,a part of WT and WA were all weakly negatively correlated with blood EOS level.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between household chemical use and respiratory disease (RD) in older Chinese adults. METHODS: The data were from the 2018 China Longitudinal Health and Longevity Survey (CLHLS) database, which included 12,866 participants aged ≥ 65 years. The prevalence of RD was based on self-reported medical history, and patients were divided into diseased and non-diseased groups. The frequency of household chemical usage was divided into four categories, and a total score for eight household chemical usage categories was constructed. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between the frequency of household chemical use and RD, and a restricted cubic spline was used to determine the dose-response association. RESULT: After adjusting for all covariates, regular use of repellents [odds ratios ( OR) = 1.28, 95% CI 1.06-1.55] and oil removers ( OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.03-1.58) were associated with RD. There was a dose-response association between the total score of household chemicals usage and RD risk ( P non-linearity > 0.05, P for trend < 0.01). Using patients with the total score below 9 as a reference, the OR for patients with the total score ranging from 25 to 32 is 2.33 (95% CI 1.25-4.09). CONCLUSION Regular use of repellents and oil removers increased the risk of RD, and the dose-dependent relationship was also observed.
Humans ; China/epidemiology* ; Aged ; Male ; Female ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/chemically induced* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Household Products/adverse effects* ; Prevalence

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture at Yangming meridian combined with modified Buyang Huanwu Decoction on hemiplegia,hemorheology and neurotrophic factors in pa-tients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis.Methods A to-tal of 84 hospitalized patients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis from March 2018 to June 2023 were selected as research objects,and they were randomly divid-ed into observation group and control group,with 42 cases in each group.The control group was con-ducted with acupuncture and routine treatment,while the observation group was conducted with modi-fied Buyang Huanwu Decoction on the basis of the control group.Clinical efficacy after 2 weeks of treatment as well as the scores of main symptoms,neurological function,limb function,hemorheologi-cal indicators and levels of neurotrophic factors before and after treatment were compared between two groups.Results After 2 weeks of treatment,the total effective rate of the observation group was sig-nificantly higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05);after treatment,the scores of symptoms such as hemiplegia,deviated mouth and awkward speech in both groups decreased significantly when compared to those before treatment,and these scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the score of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)in both groups decreased significantly when compared to that before treat-ment,and the score in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05);the score of the Motor Function Assessment Scale(Fugl-Meyer)after treatment in both groups was significantly higher than that before treatment,and the observation group was significant-ly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the plasma viscosity,red blood cell aggregation index,whole blood high shear viscosity and whole blood low shear viscosity in both groups decreased significantly when compared to those before treatment,and these indexes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the levels of serum brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),nerve growth factor(NGF)and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF)in both groups increased significant-ly when compared to those before treatment,and the levels of these indexes in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture at Yangming meridian combined with modified Buyang Huanwu Decoction can enhance the therapeutic effect for patients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis,im-prove clinical symptoms,repair nerve damage,and promote the recovery of limb function.

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture at Yangming meridian combined with modified Buyang Huanwu Decoction on hemiplegia,hemorheology and neurotrophic factors in pa-tients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis.Methods A to-tal of 84 hospitalized patients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis from March 2018 to June 2023 were selected as research objects,and they were randomly divid-ed into observation group and control group,with 42 cases in each group.The control group was con-ducted with acupuncture and routine treatment,while the observation group was conducted with modi-fied Buyang Huanwu Decoction on the basis of the control group.Clinical efficacy after 2 weeks of treatment as well as the scores of main symptoms,neurological function,limb function,hemorheologi-cal indicators and levels of neurotrophic factors before and after treatment were compared between two groups.Results After 2 weeks of treatment,the total effective rate of the observation group was sig-nificantly higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05);after treatment,the scores of symptoms such as hemiplegia,deviated mouth and awkward speech in both groups decreased significantly when compared to those before treatment,and these scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the score of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)in both groups decreased significantly when compared to that before treat-ment,and the score in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05);the score of the Motor Function Assessment Scale(Fugl-Meyer)after treatment in both groups was significantly higher than that before treatment,and the observation group was significant-ly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the plasma viscosity,red blood cell aggregation index,whole blood high shear viscosity and whole blood low shear viscosity in both groups decreased significantly when compared to those before treatment,and these indexes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the levels of serum brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),nerve growth factor(NGF)and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF)in both groups increased significant-ly when compared to those before treatment,and the levels of these indexes in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture at Yangming meridian combined with modified Buyang Huanwu Decoction can enhance the therapeutic effect for patients with cerebral infarction differentiated as type of Qi deficiency and blood stasis,im-prove clinical symptoms,repair nerve damage,and promote the recovery of limb function.

Objective:To investigate the application of different imaging methods of 99Tc m-pyrophosphate (PYP) in the diagnosis and pathological classification of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Methods:A total of 31 patients (22 males, 9 females, age 21-81(57.2±13.4) years) with suspected CA who underwent 99Tc m-PYP dual-phase scintigraphy (early-phase: 1 h, delay-phase: 2-3 h) and SPECT/CT (1 h) between December 2018 and December 2019 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively included. Taking clinical diagnosis as the standard, the results of visual score (≥2, positive) and semi-quantitative values (heart to contralateral lung (H/CL)≥1.5, positive) of 99Tc m-PYP uptake in dual-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging were analyzed. One-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni test were used to analyze the data. Results:Among 31 patients with suspected CA, 15 were clinically diagnosed as CA (5 patients with transthyretin-related CA (ATTR-CA) and 10 patients with light chain CA (AL-CA)) and 16 were diagnosed as non-CA. All 5 patients with ATTR-CA had positive dual-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging results. Three out of 10 patients with AL-CA had positive early-phase scintigraphy whereas negative delay-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging results. Sixteen patients who were clinically diagnosed as non-CA had negative dual-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging results. The sensitivity (5/5), specificity (10/10), positive predictive value (5/5), negative predictive value (10/10) and accuracy (15/15) of delay-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging were the same. Among 31 patients, 16 patients carried transthyretin-related (TTR) gene mutation, and 4 of them who clinically diagnosed as variant ATTR (ATTRv) had positive image findings while 12 of them who not clinically diagnosed as CA had negative image findings. There were significant differences in H/CL between ATTR-CA group and AL-CA group in early-phase (2.11±0.24 vs 1.31±0.07) and delay-phase (2.02±0.19 vs 1.30±0.05; F values: 75.41 and 87.15, Bonferroni test, both P<0.01). Conclusions:99Tc m-PYP delay-phase scintigraphy and SPECT/CT have high diagnostic efficiencies in ATTR-CA, helping to determine the pathological classification of CA; while early-phase scintigraphy has false positive results. Moreover, 99Tc m-PYP imaging is helpful to detect CA in patients with TTR gene mutation.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between plasma levels of complements before treatment and the clinicopathological feathers and prognoses of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with Rituximab (R)-CHOP or R-CHOP-like therapy.Methods:The clinicopathological data of 105 DLBCL patients treated in cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2010 to 2016 were collected. The plasma samples from 105 DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP or R-CHOP-like therapy and 80 healthy controls were used to detect 34 complement levels before treatment by utilizing antibody microarray. The relationship between plasma levels of complements and the clinicopathological feathers and prognosis of DLBCL patients were analyzed.Results:The signal values of C1QA and CR1L in patients with international prognostic index (IPI) scores of 3-5 were 1 261.43±138.9 and 2 214.69±98.58, respectively, higher than 950.79±80.19 and 984.67±121.79 in patients with IPI scores of 0~2 (both P<0.05). The levels of C1QA and CR1L in the non-complete response (CR) group were 1 165.43±98.56 and 2 263.13±145.63, respectively, higher than 914.70±100.77 and 1 821.34±84.68 in the CR group (both P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that elevated C1QA signal value was associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) and poor overall survival (OS) (PFS: HR=2.063, 95% CI: 1.220-3.489, P=0.007; OS: HR=2.23, 95% CI: 1.036~4.798, P=0.040). After IPI correction by Cox multivariate model, the elevated C1QA signal value was still correlated with poor PFS ( HR=1.765, 95% CI 1.034~3.013, P=0.037). Conclusions:The baseline plasma levels of C1QA and CR1L are correlated with IPI scores and therapeutic effects of DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP. The baseline plasma level of C1QA has a certain predictive value for the prognostic evaluation of DLBCL.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between plasma levels of complements before treatment and the clinicopathological feathers and prognoses of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with Rituximab (R)-CHOP or R-CHOP-like therapy.Methods:The clinicopathological data of 105 DLBCL patients treated in cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2010 to 2016 were collected. The plasma samples from 105 DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP or R-CHOP-like therapy and 80 healthy controls were used to detect 34 complement levels before treatment by utilizing antibody microarray. The relationship between plasma levels of complements and the clinicopathological feathers and prognosis of DLBCL patients were analyzed.Results:The signal values of C1QA and CR1L in patients with international prognostic index (IPI) scores of 3-5 were 1 261.43±138.9 and 2 214.69±98.58, respectively, higher than 950.79±80.19 and 984.67±121.79 in patients with IPI scores of 0~2 (both P<0.05). The levels of C1QA and CR1L in the non-complete response (CR) group were 1 165.43±98.56 and 2 263.13±145.63, respectively, higher than 914.70±100.77 and 1 821.34±84.68 in the CR group (both P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that elevated C1QA signal value was associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) and poor overall survival (OS) (PFS: HR=2.063, 95% CI: 1.220-3.489, P=0.007; OS: HR=2.23, 95% CI: 1.036~4.798, P=0.040). After IPI correction by Cox multivariate model, the elevated C1QA signal value was still correlated with poor PFS ( HR=1.765, 95% CI 1.034~3.013, P=0.037). Conclusions:The baseline plasma levels of C1QA and CR1L are correlated with IPI scores and therapeutic effects of DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP. The baseline plasma level of C1QA has a certain predictive value for the prognostic evaluation of DLBCL.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and experiences in diagnosis and treatment of the patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP).Methods:Clinical data of 28 patients with NCP in the Fourth People′s Hospital of Nanning from January 22 to February 5 in 2020 were collected. The clinical manifestations, epidemiological history, laboratory tests, imaging examinations and treatments of patients were analyzed retrospectively.Results:The 28 patients with NCP included one mild case, 25 ordinary cases and two severe cases. They were all positive for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) nucleic acid in throat swabs. There were four groups of family clusters. The clinical symptoms were mainly fever and cough, which progressed rapidly in a short period of time. Since the onset of illness, the peak values of axillary temperature of the 28 patients were 36.6 ℃ to 39.5 ℃, while five patients had no fever throughout the course of the disease with the peak temperature ≤37.0 ℃. The illness onset ranged from 1 to 12 days after exposure, and the time from the symptom onset to the positive results of the nucleic acid tests was 0 to 13 days. There were two patients presented with decreased white blood cell counts, five patients with elevated C reactive protein, six patients with abnormal alanine aminotransferase, three patients with abnormal aspartate aminotransferase, 10 patients with elevated creatine kinase, three patients with elevated creatine kinase isoenzyme, four patients with elevated lactate dehydrogenase, and all with normal procalcitonin levels. The chest computed tomography examinations showed that the common features of patients with NCP were ground glass shadows (21 cases), blurred edges (18 cases), speckles and patchy shadows (17 cases), thickening and disorder of some lung textures (seven cases), and visible band shadows (seven cases). Pulmonary lesions often progressed rapidly. A included 11-year-old child was treated with alpha-interferon alone. A total of 27 patients were treated with alpha-interferon inhalation and lopinavir/ritonavir, while four occured withdrawal due to adverse reactions. Up to February 12, nine patients had been cured and discharged who were all ordinary cases, without death cases.Conclusions:The NCP patients mostly present with fever and cough. Pulmonary lesions often progress rapidly. Respiratory pathogen testing should be conducted as early as possible and repeatedly. Disisolation should be cautious for suspected people who are negative for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid in pharynx swabs.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic value of 99Tc m-pyrophosphate (PYP) in transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis. Methods:From December 2018 to July 2019, 17 patients (9 males, 8 females, age: (53.4±13.0) years) with suspected cardiac amyloidosis underwent 99Tc m-PYP imaging in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were prospectively included. Visual score and semi-quantitative values (heart to contralateral ratio, H/CL) of 99Tc m-PYP uptake were used to diagnose transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). Biopsies and genetic measurements were also developed to evaluate the diagnostic value of the imaging. Results:Five of the 17 patients were diagnosed as ATTR with a visual score of 2-3, H/CL≥1.5, and confirmed with the biopsy or gene test. Four patients were diagnosed as ATTR with positive genetic results but no cardiac symptoms, and their visual scores were between 0 and 1 with H/CL<1.5. Considering the young age of the patients, amyloid deposition might have not yet caused visceral damage. Visual score of other 8 patients with negative 99Tc m-PYP imaging were also between 0 and 1 with H/CL<1.5, 2 of 8 were confirmed with light chain amyloidosis (AL) by biopsy, 3 were clinically diagnosed as AL and 3 were ATTR excluded. The accuracy of 99Tc m-PYP imaging for diagnosing ATTR was 11/11. Conclusion:99Tc m-PYP imaging is helpful for non-invasive diagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis.