Objective:To investigate factors influencing frequent episodes (≥ 4 episodes within 1 year) in children with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in China.Methods:A national multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted. Patients under the age of 18 years diagnosed with moderate-to-severe AD were enrolled at dermatology clinics in 18 medical institutions across 12 provinces and municipalities in China between June 12 and August 8, 2023. At the time of the visit, their guardians completed a structured questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, clinical features of AD, personal and family history, factors associated with frequent episodes of moderate-to-severe AD, compliance with treatment, and disease awareness. Statistical analyses included t tests, one-way analysis of variance, rank-sum tests, and chi-square tests, with multiple-response analysis applied for multiple-choice questions. Results:A total of 965 valid questionnaires were collected, and 965 children with moderate-to-severe AD were included. Among them, there were 531 males and 434 females, 678 (70.3%) were aged 2 - < 12 years, 837 (86.7%) were from urban areas, the age at onset was 2.47 ± 3.03 years, and the median frequency of AD episodes in the past year was 4 times. These children were divided into 2 groups based on the median episode frequency: < 4-episode group (439 cases, 45.5%) and ≥ 4-episode group (526 cases, 54.5%). Compared with the < 4-episode group, children in the ≥ 4-episode group showed younger ages at onset (2.22 ± 2.98 years vs. 2.76 ± 3.06 years, P = 0.006) and higher proportions of patients with comorbid allergic diseases in both the children themselves (82.9% [436/526] vs. 69.7% [306/439], χ2 = 23.42, P < 0.001) and their relatives (66.0% [347/526] vs. 57.4% [252/439], χ2 = 7.46, P = 0.006). Children in the ≥ 4- episode group also had higher monthly usage of moisturizers (150 [30, 300] g vs. 60 [6, 200] g) and daily frequency of moisturizer use, greater disease awareness, but more severe fear of medication use (all P < 0.05). The region and the human development index level were both significantly associated with the episode frequency (both P < 0.001), with the highest proportion of children from South China in the ≥ 4- episode group (36.3%, 191/526). Children in the ≥ 4-episode group also had a longer duration of topical glucocorticoid use than those in the < 4-episode group ( Z = -2.21, P = 0.027). External triggers associated with AD episodes mainly included heat exposure (50.36%, 486/965), hot water bathing (40.73%, 393/965), seafood (23.52%, 227/965), and dust mites (33.37%, 322/965) . Conclusion:In children with moderate-to-severe AD in China, factors influencing frequent episodes may include residence in southern or economically developed regions, earlier age at onset, having a personal or family history of allergic diseases, and fear of medication use.

Background and Aims:Complex biliary stones are often accompanied by hilar adhesions,distorted anatomy,biliary variations,or biliary-enteric fistulas.Conventional laparoscopic surgery is limited in such settings,with high conversion and complication rates.Robotic surgical systems provide high-definition 3D vision and enhanced dexterity,potentially improving surgical outcomes.This study compared the clinical efficacy of robotic vs.laparoscopic surgery for complex biliary stones.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 145 patients with complex biliary stones who underwent minimally invasive surgery at Fujian Provincial Hospital,Fuzhou University,from January 2023 to January 2025.Patients were divided into a robotic group(n=62)and a laparoscopic group(n=83).Intraoperative outcomes,postoperative complications,and recovery parameters were compared.Stone recurrence was assessed during follow-up.Results:Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups(all P＞0.05).The conversion rate was 0 in the robotic group vs.7.2％in the laparoscopic group(P=0.038).The postoperative complication rate was significantly lower in the robotic group(1.6％vs.10.7％,P=0.044).Time to first oral intake,first flatus,and postoperative hospital stay were all shorter in the robotic group(all P＜0.05).No stone recurrence was observed in either group during follow-up until June 2025.Conclusion:Robotic surgery is a safe and feasible approach for complex biliary stones,offering reduced conversion and complication rates and faster recovery compared with laparoscopy.It holds promise for wider clinical application in complex biliary disease.

Objective:To investigate factors influencing frequent episodes (≥ 4 episodes within 1 year) in children with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in China.Methods:A national multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted. Patients under the age of 18 years diagnosed with moderate-to-severe AD were enrolled at dermatology clinics in 18 medical institutions across 12 provinces and municipalities in China between June 12 and August 8, 2023. At the time of the visit, their guardians completed a structured questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, clinical features of AD, personal and family history, factors associated with frequent episodes of moderate-to-severe AD, compliance with treatment, and disease awareness. Statistical analyses included t tests, one-way analysis of variance, rank-sum tests, and chi-square tests, with multiple-response analysis applied for multiple-choice questions. Results:A total of 965 valid questionnaires were collected, and 965 children with moderate-to-severe AD were included. Among them, there were 531 males and 434 females, 678 (70.3%) were aged 2 - < 12 years, 837 (86.7%) were from urban areas, the age at onset was 2.47 ± 3.03 years, and the median frequency of AD episodes in the past year was 4 times. These children were divided into 2 groups based on the median episode frequency: < 4-episode group (439 cases, 45.5%) and ≥ 4-episode group (526 cases, 54.5%). Compared with the < 4-episode group, children in the ≥ 4-episode group showed younger ages at onset (2.22 ± 2.98 years vs. 2.76 ± 3.06 years, P = 0.006) and higher proportions of patients with comorbid allergic diseases in both the children themselves (82.9% [436/526] vs. 69.7% [306/439], χ2 = 23.42, P < 0.001) and their relatives (66.0% [347/526] vs. 57.4% [252/439], χ2 = 7.46, P = 0.006). Children in the ≥ 4- episode group also had higher monthly usage of moisturizers (150 [30, 300] g vs. 60 [6, 200] g) and daily frequency of moisturizer use, greater disease awareness, but more severe fear of medication use (all P < 0.05). The region and the human development index level were both significantly associated with the episode frequency (both P < 0.001), with the highest proportion of children from South China in the ≥ 4- episode group (36.3%, 191/526). Children in the ≥ 4-episode group also had a longer duration of topical glucocorticoid use than those in the < 4-episode group ( Z = -2.21, P = 0.027). External triggers associated with AD episodes mainly included heat exposure (50.36%, 486/965), hot water bathing (40.73%, 393/965), seafood (23.52%, 227/965), and dust mites (33.37%, 322/965) . Conclusion:In children with moderate-to-severe AD in China, factors influencing frequent episodes may include residence in southern or economically developed regions, earlier age at onset, having a personal or family history of allergic diseases, and fear of medication use.

Background and Aims:Complex biliary stones are often accompanied by hilar adhesions,distorted anatomy,biliary variations,or biliary-enteric fistulas.Conventional laparoscopic surgery is limited in such settings,with high conversion and complication rates.Robotic surgical systems provide high-definition 3D vision and enhanced dexterity,potentially improving surgical outcomes.This study compared the clinical efficacy of robotic vs.laparoscopic surgery for complex biliary stones.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 145 patients with complex biliary stones who underwent minimally invasive surgery at Fujian Provincial Hospital,Fuzhou University,from January 2023 to January 2025.Patients were divided into a robotic group(n=62)and a laparoscopic group(n=83).Intraoperative outcomes,postoperative complications,and recovery parameters were compared.Stone recurrence was assessed during follow-up.Results:Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups(all P＞0.05).The conversion rate was 0 in the robotic group vs.7.2％in the laparoscopic group(P=0.038).The postoperative complication rate was significantly lower in the robotic group(1.6％vs.10.7％,P=0.044).Time to first oral intake,first flatus,and postoperative hospital stay were all shorter in the robotic group(all P＜0.05).No stone recurrence was observed in either group during follow-up until June 2025.Conclusion:Robotic surgery is a safe and feasible approach for complex biliary stones,offering reduced conversion and complication rates and faster recovery compared with laparoscopy.It holds promise for wider clinical application in complex biliary disease.

Lung cancer is the malignant tumor with the highest incidence and mortality among the Chinese.Tumor node metastasis(TNM)staging established by the American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC)and International Union Against Cancer(UICC)is a commonly used criterion,but it still has limitations in judging the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients.With the advantages of real-time and convenient sampling,the immune score based on peripheral blood biomarkers have the ability to predict prognosis and efficacy of NSCLC patients,which have been developed and validated in clinical studies.However,clinical impleruentation of peripheral immune scores is still not widely in NSCLC patients.Therefore,this study introduces and evaluates the 6 peripheral immune scores and reviews the reseach progress of them in the treatment of NSCLC.

Objective:A prospective, multicenter randomized controlled clinical research was conducted to explore the diagnostic value of the new optical staining technology for domestic endoscope, spectral focused imaging (SFI) and variable intelligent staining technology (VIST), for gastric precancerous lesions.Methods:Patients who intended to undergo gastroscopy between August 2020 and May 2021 were randomly divided into the white light group and the new optical staining group at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. A sequential examination method was applied (white light to new optical staining or new optical staining to white light). The endoscopic diagnostic results and the detection results of Helicobacter pylori ( HP) of the two groups were recorded. At the same time, such five variables as gastric mucosal atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, fold enlargement, nodular gastritis and diffuse redness were evaluated for the risk of gastric cancer in the two groups. Results:A total of 419 cases were enrolled, including 208 cases in the white light group and 211 cases in the new optical staining group. Compared with pathological findings, the detection rates of gastric inflammation, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and advanced cancer lesions in the white light group were 28.9%, 40.4%, 64.9%, 17.8%, 0.5% and 0.5% respectively; while those in the new optical staining group were 30.8%, 42.7%, 62.6%, 15.2%, 2.8% and 0.5%. There were no significant differences in the detection rates between the two groups ( P>0.05). Compared with pathology, the sensitivity, the specificity, the accuracy, the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value for gastric mucosal atrophy in the white light group were 92.9%, 61.3%, 74.0%, 61.9% and 92.7% respectively and those in the new optical staining group (SFI mode) were 94.4%, 64.5%, 77.3%, 66.4% and 94.0% respectively. The above 5 measures for gastric mucosal intestinal metaplasia were 68.1%, 72.6%, 69.7%, 82.1% and 55.2% in the white light group, and 87.1%, 89.9%, 88.2%, 93.5% and 80.7% in the new optical staining group (VIST mode), with significant difference between the two groups ( P<0.05). In terms of HP infection with 13C-urea breath test ( 13C-UBT) results as the gold standard, the above 5 measures were 90.2%, 84.3%, 87.4%, 86.8% and 88.2% in the white light group and 92.6%, 77.1%, 85.4%, 82.2% and 90.1% in the new optical staining group respectively. The proportion of high-risk gastric lesions in the new optical staining group was higher in cases of a gastric cancer risk score≥ 4 ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The new optical staining technology of domestic endoscopy has higher diagnostic value for gastric mucosal intestinal metaplasia. Gastroscopy is helpful for the detection of precancerous lesions with gastric cancer risk score as a tool. The new optical staining technology of domestic endoscopy is similar to imported endoscopy in diagnosing gastric precancerous lesions and HP infection, which is an effective means to detect gastric mucosal precancerous lesions.

Low back pain is becoming an important factor that affects people's quality of life today, and the social losses caused by lowback pain are hugeevery year. Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is one of the main diseases that cause low back pain. The mechanism of lumbar disc herniation in the biomedical science is still controversial. Inflammatory factor is a cytokine secreted by tissue cells and involved in mediating the inflammatory response. Studies have shown that some factors stimulated by the extrusive nucleus pulposus, like inflammatory factors, degeneration-related genes and downstream expression products, can cause the degeneration of intervertebral disc. IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, MMPs, and TGF-β have become the hot topicin disc degeneration. Signaling pathway is the main pathway for inflammatory factors to participate in the regulation of various biochemical reactions in cells. The inflammatory factors interact with different proteins to activate or inhibit different pathways, thereby achieving regulation of the cell cycle, regulates gene expression, induces immune inflammatory response, and apoptosis. Research on the role of various inflammatory factors in the body and related molecular signaling pathways will help us understand the mechanism of LDH. Most of the experimental studies only focus on the influence of a certain cytokine or single pathway on intervertebral disc degeneration, but different inflammatory factors and their signaling pathways often crosstalk with each other through special channels, forming a complex and precise signal transduction regulation network jointly regulates various physiological or pathological processes in the body, and the occurrence of disease is often accompanied by multiple factors. Studying the effect of a single signal network on the disease cannot fully explain the cause of the disease and related clinical manifestations. Therefore, clarifying the role of various inflammatory factors in IDD and exploring and analyzing the ways in which each factor regulates each other will provide ideas for understanding the mechanism of lumbar degeneration and exploring new methods for preventing and treating LDH in the future.

Objective:Resorption can occur after lumbar disc herniation, and Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is considered to be a key factor mediating reabsorption. Studies have found that under the action of inflammatory factors like TNF-α, IL-6, etc,the expression of TSLP in intervertebral disc tissue was increased, and then mononuclear macrophage chemokine-1 (MCP-1) was induced to induce infiltration of macrophage to promote reabsorption. To determine the mechanism, we design the experiment to explore the mechanism of IL-6-mediated JAK/STAT pathway and TGF-β/Smad pathway to promote the reabsorption of intervertebral disc by regulating the expression of TSLP.Methods:Rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and rat nucleus pulposus cells (NPC) were cultured in vitro, treating the cells withrat IL-6 recombinant protein, STAT3inhibitor and Smad2/3 inhibitorrespectively, and use real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) technology to detect the expression of JAK1, STAT3, Smad2, TSLP mRNA under different conditions; Western blot to detect the expression of TSLP, Smad2 and phosphate STAT3 protein; using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) to detect the expression of TGF-β in two rat cells under the treatment of IL-6.Results:After stimulation ofIL-6 (10 ng/ml or 100 ng/ml) the expression of JAK1in MSC (10 ng/ml: 5.13±1.21; 100 ng/ml: 5.23±0.35; control group: 0.97±0.03), STAT3 (10 ng/ml: 6.50±0.38; 100 ng/ml: 6.74±0.61; control group: 0.87±0.19) was significantly increased, and TSLP also showed high expression in MSC (10 ng/ml: 4.26±0.38; 100 ng/ml: 5.05±0.46; control group: 1.04±0.04).The expression of STAT3 (10 ng/ml: 2.91±0.08; control group: 1.12±0.11), TSLP (10 ng/ml: 7.32±0.37; control group: 1.03±0.03) in NPC also increased. After stimulation of IL-6, the expression of Smad2 increasing in MSC was observed (10 ng/ml: 15.92±0.62; 100 ng/ml: 20.28±0.58; control group: 0.96±0.08), and increased expression of Smad2 in NPC (10 ng/ml: 5.01±0.17; control group: 0.96±0.03). The expression of TSLP in MSC decreased after adding STAT3 inhibitor (BP group, BP group: 0.17±0.01; control group: 0.90±0.09), the expression of TSLP also decreased in NPC (BP group: 0.42±0.11; control group: 0.90±0.11). After adding Smad2/3 inhibitor (SB group), the expression of TSLP in MSC decreased (SB group: 0.33±0.01; control group: 1.02±0.02), and the expression of TSLP in NPC also decreased (SB group: 0.40±0.04; control group: 0.99±0.01).Conclusion:IL-6 up-regulates TSLP expression via the JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathway and promotes prominent intervertebral disc reabsorption. At the same time, IL-6 can activate the TGF-β/Smad2/3 pathway and up-regulate the expression of TSLP, which play a synergistic role in the reabsorption process.

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and clinical significance of serum exosomal microRNA(miRNA)-221-3p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MethodsA total of 66 patients who underwent surgery in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, from February 2010 to December 2014 and were diagnosed with HCC were enrolled as HCC group, and 25 individuals who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period of time were enrolled as control group. The exosome extraction kit was used to isolate the exosomes in serum; Western blotting was used to measure the expression of exosome markers; a transmission electron microscope was used to observe the morphology of serum exosomes; quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were used to analyze the association of the expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p with prognosis, and the Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors for prognosis. ResultsSerum exosomes were small membranous vesicles with a diameter of about 40-100 nm, and HSP70, Alix, and CD63 were expressed in the exosomes. The HCC group had significantly higher expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p than the control group (U=354.00, P＜0.001). In the patients with HCC, the high expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p was associated with tumor size (χ2=6.016, P=0.014), capsular invasion (χ2=7.580, P=0.006), and TNM stage (χ2=6.340, P=0012). In addition, the HCC patients with high expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p had a significantly lower overall survival rate than those with low expression (χ2=17.105, P＜0.001). The multivariate analysis showed that the expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p (hazard ratio ［HR］=2.434, 95% confidence interval ［CI］: 1.178-5.027, P=0.016) and tumor stage (HR=2.653, 95% CI: 1.222-5.760, P=0.014) were independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients with HCC. ConclusionThere is a significant increase in the expression of serum exosomal miRNA-221-3p in HCC patients, which provides a reference for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of HCC.

Objective To investigate the technical and therapeutic effects of laparoscopic surgery for adult patients with Dong Type C bile duct dilatation.Methods A retrospective cohort study approach was used.The clinical data of 47 patients with Dong Type C adult biliary dilatation who underwent surgery in Fujian Provincial Hospital from January 2014 to December 2017 were collected.There were 12 males and 35 females.The age ranged from 16 to 68 years,with a median age of 30 years.According to different surgical methods,the patients were divided into the laparoscopic group (treated with laparoscopic cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy,n =21) and the open group (treated with traditional open operation,n =26).The intraoperative blood loss,complication rate,operation time,postoperative intestinal function recovery time and postoperative hospital stay were observed.Measurement data with normal distribution were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (Mean ±SD) and analyzed by t test.Comparison of count data was done by the chi-square test.Results There was no perioperative deaths in either group.There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss and complication rate between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The operation time of the laparoscopic group was significantly longer than that of the open group[(333.7 ±61.1) min vs (235.9 ±64.3) min],with statistically significant difference between graps (P =0.000).The recovery time for the intestinal function of the laparoscopic group was significantly shorter than that of the open group [(2.2 ± 0.5) d vs (2.9 ± 0.6) d],with statistically significant difference between groups (P =0.000).The postoperative hospital stay in the laparoscopic group was significantly shorter than the open group [(7.1 ± 1.8) d vs (12.0 ± 5.9) d],with statistically significant difference between groups (P =0.001).Conclusion For adult biliary dilatation patiens with Dong Type C,laparoscopic surgery is safe and feasible with the advantages of mini-invasive and quick recovery.