【Objective】 To investigate the level of serum bone metabolism and biochemical markers and bone density of plasmapheresis donors, and to provide scientific basis for ensuring the health and safety of plasmapheresis donors in China. 【Methods】 A total of 437 plasmapheresis donors from Linwu plasmapheresis station in Hunan Province from July 1 to September 30, 2022 were recruited to determine the levels of total serum calcium, albumin, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), serum type I procollagen N-terminal propeptide (P1NP), and collagen type 1 crosslinked carboxyl-terminal peptide (β-CTX). Dual-energy X-ray method was used to measure the bone density of the anteroposterior lumbar spine (L1-L4) and bilateral femoral neck bone density of plasmapheresis donors. Plasmapheresis donors were grouped according to the type of plasma donation (first-time and repeat plasmapheresis donors) and the total number of plasma donations to assess the differences in bone density and serum bone metabolism biochemical markers between groups. The dose-response relationship between the total number of plasmapheresis donations and biochemical indexes was analyzed by limiting cubic spline, and the influencing factors of different indexes were explored by multiple linear regression. 【Results】 A total of 437 plasmapheresis donors were included in this study, including 187 first-time plasmapheresis donors and 250 repeat plasmapheresis donors. There were no significant differences in bone density and prevalence of osteoporosis between first-time donors and repeat donors (P>0.05). There was also no significant difference in bone density levels between groups of total number of plasmapheresis donations. The levels of albumin and 25OHD decreased with the increase of the total number of plasma donations, while the serum P1NP level was positively correlated with the total number of plasma donations. The results of the restriction cubic spline showed that the total number of plasmapheresis donations had a nonlinear dose-response relationship with 25OH and P1NP (P<0.05). The results of multiple linear regression showed that the frequency of plasmapheresis donation was the influencing factor of 25OHD, and the total number of plasmapheresis donation was the influencing factor of P1NP. 【Conclusion】 Plasmapheresis donation does not affect the bone health of donors and increase the risk of osteoporosis due to the use of long-term anticoagulants, but it will increase the osteogenic activity of plasmapheresis donors. It is recommended that middle-aged and elderly plasmapheresis donors supplement vitamin D appropriately.

In recent years, next-generation sequencing (NGS)–based genetic testing has become crucial in cancer care. While its primary objective is to identify actionable genetic alterations to guide treatment decisions, its scope has broadened to encompass aiding in pathological diagnosis and exploring resistance mechanisms. With the ongoing expansion in NGS application and reliance, a compelling necessity arises for expert consensus on its application in solid cancers. To address this demand, the forthcoming recommendations not only provide pragmatic guidance for the clinical use of NGS but also systematically classify actionable genes based on specific cancer types. Additionally, these recommendations will incorporate expert perspectives on crucial biomarkers, ensuring informed decisions regarding circulating tumor DNA panel testing.

In recent years, next-generation sequencing (NGS)–based genetic testing has become crucial in cancer care. While its primary objective is to identify actionable genetic alterations to guide treatment decisions, its scope has broadened to encompass aiding in pathological diagnosis and exploring resistance mechanisms. With the ongoing expansion in NGS application and reliance, a compelling necessity arises for expert consensus on its application in solid cancers. To address this demand, the forthcoming recommendations not only provide pragmatic guidance for the clinical use of NGS but also systematically classify actionable genes based on specific cancer types. Additionally, these recommendations will incorporate expert perspectives on crucial biomarkers, ensuring informed decisions regarding circulating tumor DNA panel testing.

【Objective】 To analyze the characteristics and mobility of the overlapping population of voluntary blood donation and plasmapheresis donation, so as to provide a scientific basis for the formulation of recruitment and retention strategies for blood donation and plasmapheresis donation, and to further propose a scientific reference for the decision-making of blood banks and plasmapheresis station management in China. 【Methods】 The basic information of blood donors and plasmapheresis donors in two counties in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, which carried out whole blood collection and plasmapheresis collection from the establishment of the station to July 31, 2021 was statistically compared and analzed using the chi-square test and Post hoc testing test. 【Results】 As of July 31, 2021, a total of 50 658 people participated in blood donation and 63 375 people participated in plasmapheresis donation in Jiange County and Cangxi County, with a total overlap of 6 189 people. In the two regions, 16 458 (35.2%) people aged 40 to 50, and 35 558 people (56.1%) were over 50 years old. Among the overlapping population, 2 496 (40.3%) were 40 to 50 years old, accounted for the largest proportion, and 3 146 (50.8%) were males. Significant differences were noticed in age (P<0.001) and gender (P<0.001). There was a shift in dontion in 5 183, including 2 072 people from plasma to blood and 3 111 people from blood to plasma, among which 2 671 (51.5%) were men and 3 632 (70.1%) were over 50 years old, with significant differences in gender (P<0.05) and age (P<0.001). 【Conclusion】 There were a small number of donors donating both blood and plasma in Jiange and Cangxi, and men aged 40 to 50 were the majority, and people over 50 years old were more likely to shift the donation goals. The vast majority of donors have a single and fixed donation goal (blood or plasma), and are not easy to change.

【Objective】 To analyze the dynamic relationship between the setting up of plasmapheresis station and the volume of voluntary blood donation collected using panel vector autoregressive model, so as to provide scientific reference for the management policies of blood stations and plasmapheresis stations in China. 【Methods】 The data collected from blood stations in seven administrative regions of Guangyuan, Sichuan Province from 2011 to 2021, as well as plasma collection data from two plasmapheresis stations in the region within two years since their operation, were collected. A panel vector autoregressive model was constructed. Impulse response analysis and variance decomposition analysis were used to analyze the impact and time lag effects of simulated plasmapheresis station settings on the collection volume of voluntary blood donation. Covariance analysis was used to explore whether the establishment of plasmapheresis station had an impact on the volume of voluntary blood donation collected after excluding the impact of initial value differences. 【Results】 The pulse response results showed that after the plasmapheresis station was set up, there was a negative impact effect on the voluntary blood donation collection volume at the first stage, and its impact began to rise after the second stage, reached the highest value in the third stage, and then began to decline. After the seventh stage, it tended to be stable. However, within the 10 stage range, the confidence interval for the response strength of voluntary blood donation collection volume always included 0, indicating that the response of blood collection volume to the plasmapheresis station setting in the region was not statistically significant. The results of variance decomposition showed that the contribution of collection volume of voluntary blood donation to their own impact reached 94.3%. In terms of the contribution of plasmapheresis station factors, the number of plasma donors has a relatively greater impact on the volume of voluntary blood donation collected(2.2%). Covariance analysis showed that after removing the initial confounding factors, whether to establish a plasmapheresis station had no significant impact on blood donation volume in the two groups of regions (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 The establishment of a new plasmapheresis station will have a certain impact on blood collection volume of blood stations in the region in a short term, but in the long term, it may not directly affect the voluntary blood donation collection in the region.

Background: and Purpose Intracranial vertebrobasilar atherosclerotic stenosis (IVBAS) is a major cause of posterior circulation stroke. Some patients suffer from stroke recurrence despite receiving medical treatment. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of a new score for the posterior communicating artery and the P1 segment of the posterior cerebral artery (PCoA-P1) for predicting stroke recurrence in IVBAS. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients with severe IVBAS (70%–99%). According to the number of stroke recurrences, patients were divided into no-recurrence, single-recurrence, and multiple-recurrences groups. We developed a new 5-point grading scale, with the PCoA-P1 score ranging from 0 to 4 based on magnetic resonance angiography, in which primary collaterals were dichotomized into good (2–4 points) and poor (0 or 1 point). Stroke recurrences after the index stroke were recorded. Patients who did not experience stroke recurrence were compared with those who experienced single or multiple stroke recurrences. Results: From January 2012 to December 2019, 176 patients were enrolled, of which 116 (65.9%) had no stroke recurrence, 35 (19.9%) had a single stroke recurrence, and 25 (14.2%) had multiple stroke recurrences. Patients with single stroke recurrence (odds ratio [OR]= 4.134, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.822–9.380, p=0.001) and multiple stroke recurrences (OR=6.894, 95% CI=2.489–19.092, p<0.001) were more likely to have poor primary collaterals than those with no stroke recurrence. Conclusions The new PCoA-P1 score appears to provide improve predictions of stroke recurrence in patients with IVBAS.

Objective:To screen the clinical parameters in predicting continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT)-related hypotension in the patients with renal failure.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted. Patients with renal failure received CRRT admitted to Qingdao Municipal Hospital from July 1st, 2012 to June 30th 2019 were enrolled. Clinical data was recorded for the patients, including gender, age, weight, parameters before CRRT [systolic pressure (SBP), diastolic pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP), heart rate, blood routine examination, blood biochemistry, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), cardiothoracic ratio, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)], CRRT duration, blood flow velocity, replacement fluid volume, net ultrafiltration volume, ultrafiltration rate and 30-day prognosis. The patients who had CRRT-related hypotension or whose net ultrafiltration was zero were enrolled as intolerance ultrafiltration group. Others were enrolled in normal ultrafiltration group. The parameters of the patients in the two groups were compared, and their predictive values in CRRT-related hypotension were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results:There was significant difference in age, BNP, CVP, CRRT duration, net ultrafiltration volume, and ultrafiltration rate between the normal ultrafiltration group ( n 98) and intolerance ultrafiltration group [ n 13; age (years old): 66.21±12.21 vs. 74.54±5.93, BNP (ng/L): 1 617.57 (755.00, 2 296.25) vs. 398.95 (76.80, 703.00), CVP (cmH 2O, 1 cmH 2O = 0.098 kPa): 14.99±2.28 vs. 12.60±1.14, CRRT duration (hours): 23.71±11.48 vs. 14.51±8.99, net ultrafiltration volume (mL): 3 120.98 (1 863.75, 3 515.00) vs. 793.85 (0, 1 125.00), ultrafiltration rate (mL/h): 133.44 (98.72, 156.64) vs. 68.47 (0, 105.21), all P < 0.05]. ROC curve analysis showed that age, BNP, CVP, CRRT duration, net ultrafiltration volume and ultrafiltration rate had good predictive value for the CRRT-related hypotension [the area under ROC curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI): age was 0.734 (0.626-0.842), BNP was 0.868 (0.776-0.960), CVP was 0.846 (0.757-0.935), CRRT duration was 0.746 (0.595-0.897), net ultrafiltration volume was 0.926 (0.845-1.000), and ultrafiltration rate was 0.794 (0.620-0.969), respectively]. Furthermore, according to the cut-off point of ultrafiltration rate, the patients were divided into ≥99.50 mL/h group and < 99.50 mL/h group. There were statistical differences in BNP, CVP and net ultrafiltration volume between the two groups. ROC curve analysis showed that BNP and CVP had good prediction value for hypotension when ultrafiltration rate exceeds ≥ 99.50 mL/h. The AUC (95% CI) of BNP and CVP were 0.716 (0.604-0.828) and 0.749 (0.651-0.847), the sensitivity was 70.0%, 78.8%, and the specificity was 35.5%, 45.2%, respectively. Conclusion:The values of age, BNP and CVP are more useful than other parameters in predicting CRRT-related hypotension before the start.

Activation of inflammatory responses regulates the transmission of pain pathways through an integrated network in the peripheral and central nervous systems. The immunopotentiator thymosin alpha-1 (Tα1) has recently been reported to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions in rodents. However, how Tα1 affects inflammatory pain remains unclear. In the present study, intraperitoneal injection of Tα1 attenuated complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced pain hypersensitivity, and decreased the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) in inflamed skin and the spinal cord. We found that CFA-induced peripheral inflammation evoked strong microglial activation, but the effect was reversed by Tα1. Notably, Tα1 reversed the CFA-induced up-regulation of vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) and down-regulated the vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT) in the spinal cord. Taken together, these results suggest that Tα1 plays a therapeutic role in inflammatory pain and in the modulation of microglia-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in addition to mediation of VGLUT and VGAT expression in the spinal cord.

To carry out phylogenetic analysis for drug-resistance genes from clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) among patients with gastric diseases from Tibet, China.

METHODSHp strains were isolated and cultured from saliva and gastric mucosal tissues derived from patients with gastric diseases. Nine strains (including 5 isolated from oral tissues, 1 isolated from gastric tissues, and 3 representative strains of SS international standard strains used for animal models) were tested for common antibiotic resistance. Together with an ACTT 11637 international standard strain, these were subjected to re-sequencing to obtain drug-resistance genes. Such genes from various sources were compared with the resistance genes of Hp strains recorded by the NCBI website. Combined with results of drug-resistance experiments, correlation between molecular evolution and drug-resistance was analyzed.

RESULTSTesting of gastric mucosal tissues and salivary samples from 217 patients has found 89 Hp strains, which yielded a total infection rate of 41.01%. The resistance rates of 9 representative Hp strains for clarithromycin, amoxicillin, metronidazole, levofloxacin and tetracycline were 77.8%, 77.8%, 44.4%, 77.8%, and 77.8%, respectively. Compared with the reference strain, the similarity between clarithromycin-resistance genes was 99%, and that between amoxicillin- and metronidazole-resistance genes was 96%-97%. A2143G mutation was also found in clarithromycin-resistant genes of three Hp strains.

CONCLUSIONThe sensitivity of Hp to metronidazole is much higher in patients from Tibet region, and the sensitivity of Hp to clarithromycin, amoxicillin, levofloxacin and tetracycline is poor. Resistance mutations are consistent with drug resistance.