OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) imposes a heavy burden on individuals, families, and society. This study analyzed the incidence and mortality trends of RA in China from 1990 to 2023 to provide epidemiological evidence for precise prevention and control. METHODS: Data on RA incidence, age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), deaths, and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) in China by sex and age group from 1900 to 2021 were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 database. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze trends in ASIR and ASMR. An age-period-cohort model was constructed using R4.3.1 to evaluate longitudinal age trends and estimate relative risk (RR) values for period and cohort effects. RESULTS: In 2021, the number of RA cases, ASIR, deaths, and ASMR in China were 247 300, 13.70 per 100 000, 10 300, and 0.54 per 100 000, respectively. From 1990 to 2021, the ASIR of RA increased annually among both females and males, with average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) of 0.44% and 0.72%, respectively. Over the same period, ASMR declined in the total population and among females, with AAPCs of -0.78% and -1.19%, while the change in males was not statistically significant. Age-period-cohort analysis showed that the peak incidence occurred in women aged 60-64 years and men aged 75-79 years, and mortality increased with age. The period effect for incidence rose in both sexes, reaching 1.10 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94 to 1.27] for females and 1.14 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.27) for males during 2017 to 2021, compared with 2002 to 2006. The mortality period effect RR exhibited a downward-upward-downward pattern, decreasing to 0.56 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.61) in females and 0.75 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.82) in males in 2017 to 2021. Cohort analysis indicated that the highest incidence risk occurred in individuals born during 2012 to 2016, while the cohort effect RR for female RA mortality showed a continuous decline beginning with the 1922 to 1926 birth cohort. CONCLUSIONS The incidence and mortality risks of RA in China have continued to decline. However, with the aging of the population, the incidence and mortality risks among the elderly have increased. Middle-aged women and elderly men should receive focused attention. Health authorities should strengthen education, prevention, and screening among middle-aged women and enhance disease monitoring in elderly populations to reduce the national burden of RA.
Humans ; China/epidemiology* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/epidemiology* ; Incidence ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged ; Cohort Studies ; Mortality/trends* ; Age Distribution ; Age Factors ; Aged, 80 and over ; Adolescent

OBJECTIVE: To observe change in serum growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) and killer cell lectin-like receptor B1 (KLRB1), to construct a nomogram model for 28-day death in patients with septic shock, and to explore its predictive value. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted. The patients with septic shock admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) of Cangzhou Central Hospital from September 2023 to March 2025 were selected as the septic shock group, the patients with sepsis admitted to the emergency general ward during the same period were selected as the sepsis group, and healthy individuals undergoing physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group. On the day of hospital admission or physical examination for the research subjects, the levels of serum GDF11 and KLRB1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients with septic shock were divided into survival and death groups based on their 28-day survival status. The patients' gender, age, past medical history, infection site, severity of illness, mechanical ventilation, blood purification, infection indicators, biochemical indicators, coagulation function indicators, and blood lactic acid (Lac) were collected. The clinical data of the patients with septic shock between the two groups with different prognoses were compared. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors for 28-day death in patients with septic shock, and bivariate Pearson correlation analysis was conducted. A nomogram model was constructed based on the risk factors for 28-day death in patients with septic shock. The discrimination and calibration of the nomogram model were evaluated using the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve), Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, and calibration curve. The clinical utility of the model was evaluated using clinical decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: A total of 168 patients in the emergency ICU were enrolled in the septic shock group, 40 patients in the emergency general ward were enrolled in the sepsis group, and 40 healthy individuals were enrolled in the control group. Compared with the healthy control group, the serum GDF11 levels in the sepsis and septic shock groups were significantly increased (μg/L: 13.09±3.51, 19.28±5.36 vs. 4.17±0.92, both P < 0.05), and the serum KLRB1 levels were significantly decreased (ng/L: 57.36±11.28, 45.52±9.07 vs. 84.19±17.16, both P < 0.05), with more significant changes in the septic shock group (both P < 0.05). Among the 168 patients with septic shock, 96 survived and 72 died within 28 days. Compared with the survival group, the serum GDF11 level in the death group was significantly increased (μg/L: 24.24±4.81 vs. 15.56±4.62, P < 0.05), and the serum KLRB1 level was significantly decreased (ng/L: 28.53±8.69 vs. 58.26±9.45, P < 0.05). There were also statistically significant differences in sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHEII) score, procalcitonin (PCT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), D-dimer, and Lac between the two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that SOFA score [odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.38-3.65), Lac (OR = 1.38, 95%CI was 1.09-2.01), GDF11 (OR = 1.54, 95%CI was 1.21-2.33) and KLRB1 (OR = 0.64, 95%CI was 0.41-0.78) were independent risk factors for 28-day death in patients with septic shock (all P < 0.05). Bivariate Pearson correlation analysis showed that SOFA score was significantly positively correlated with Lac and GDF11 (r value was 0.37 and 0.58, respectively, both P < 0.05), and significantly negatively correlated with KLRB1 (r = -0.72, P < 0.05). A nomogram model was constructed based on the risk factors for 28-day death in patients with septic shock. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the nomogram model for predicting 28-day death in patients with septic shock was 0.963 (95%CI was 0.929-0.990), indicating that the model had good discrimination and predictive ability. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test (χ ² = 9.578, P = 0.295) and calibration curve indicated that the predicted values of the model were in good agreement with the actual values. DCA indicated that the model provided a high net benefit for clinical decision-making. CONCLUSIONS The serum GDF11 level was significantly increased and the KLRB1 level was significantly decreased in patients with septic shock. The nomogram model based on GDF11 and KLRB1 could more accurately evaluate the 28-day death of patients with septic shock.
Humans ; Shock, Septic/blood* ; Nomograms ; Prospective Studies ; Prognosis ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Intensive Care Units

C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and its receptor CCR2 are closely related to tumorigenesis and tumor progression. The CCL2/CCR2 signaling axis promotes tumor progression through multiple mechanisms: CCL2 binds to CCR2 on the surface of tumor cells, and thus promotes tumor growth/survival and metastasis; more importantly, CCL2 recruits a variety of immunosuppressive cells to aggregate in the tumor microenvironment, and inhibits the function and activity of immune cells, promoting tumor progression. The article reviews the CCL2/CCR2 signaling axis and its role in tumors and tumor microenvironment, with particular focus on the advances in clinical research on drugs targeting CCL2/CCR2 signaling axis, in order to gain an in-depth and overall understanding of the mechanism of action of CCL2/CCR2 axis in tumor progression and develop more effective anti-tumor immunotherapeutic agents.

Objective: To explore the effects of group sports game intervention on social ability and quality of life of children with austism spectrum disorders (ASD),so as to provide reference for rehabilitation intervention of social and quality of life of children with ASD. Methods: From September 2021 to January 2022, 72 children with ASD aged 4-6 in the children s rehabilitation department of Xiangyang Central Hospital were selected to participate in the study, and were randomly divided into experimental group ( n =36) and control group ( n =36). The control group received routine rehabilitation training (including individual sports game training), and the experimental group replaced individual sports game training with group sports game training on the basis of routine rehabilitation.The course content mainly included three parts: warm up before class, group sports games and relaxation after class. The course combined social skills with sports games, and was carried out in a group form (divided into 12 groups with 3 people in each group), and was trained five times a week for 60 minutes, for a total of 12 weeks. The scores of Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL 4.0) were observed before and after treatment. t-test and χ 2 test were used for statistical analysis. Results: There was no significant difference in SRS scores between the experimental group and the control group before intervention ( t =-0.63, P >0.05). After the intervention, the total response rate in the experimental group was 83.33 %, higher than 41.67% in the control group χ 2=13.33, P <0.05),and the SRS scores decreased in the experimental group and control group ( t =17.75,8.71, P <0.05). The SRS scale score of the experimental group Social perception (17.67±4.12) , social cognition (30.33±4.99) , social communication (50.33±9.39) , social motivation (24.25±6.78) scores and total scores ( 152.67± 25.82) were lower than those of the control group(22.17±5.34，36.00±4.13，62.58±11.07，34.42±7.13，186.33±29.03)( t = -4.88，-2.03，-2.13，-3.58，-3.01， P ＜0.05).After the intervention, the scores of social function (53.33±18.01) and total score (283.83±51.83) on PedsQL 4.0 scale in experimental group were higher than those in control group(23.33±15.13，218.00±39.01) ( t =4.42，3.52， P ＜0.05). After the intervention, Autism Treatment Evaluation Scale (ATEC) scores of experimental groups(44.33±14.72) was lower than that in control group ( 59.33±16.95)( t =-2.32, P ＜0.05). Conclusion The intervention of group sports game has a significant effect on improving social ability and life quality of children with ASD.

Central venous catheterization plays an important role in the rescue of critically patients. Commonly used central veins in clinical practice include subclavian vein, internal jugular vein, and femoral vein. Serious complications after catheterization can endanger patients′ lives in severe cases. It is necessary to improve the understanding and treatment of serious complications of central vein catheterization in clinical work. A case of iliac vein dissection caused by right femoral vein catheterization was summarized in this article, and the catheter was successfully removed under digital subtraction angiography direct vision after the distal end of the catheter penetrated the vascular wall and reached the peritonea, which provided reference for the treatment of iatrogenic injury caused by central vein catheterization.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of a child with microcephaly-capillary malformation syndrome due to a STAMBP mutation. Methods:The clinical data of a case of microcephaly-capillary malformation syndrome caused by STAMBP gene mutation admitted to Anhui Children′s Hospital in August 2023 were collected. The genes of the child and his parents were detected by whole exome sequencing, and the risk was predicted by biological software. At the same time, the clinical characteristics of the child were analyzed and the literature was reviewed. Results:The patient is a male child aged 2 years and 7 months. The patient had special features, microcephaly, refractory epilepsy, severe comprehensive developmental delay, and capillary malformations. The results of genetic testing showed that the STAMBP gene in the child had complex heterozygous mutations NM_001353967: c.367delG[p.E123fs *27(p.Glu123fsTer27) and c.159A>C(p.Glu53Asp)], inherited from his mother and father respectively. The mutations have not been recorded in the HGMD, dbSNP and gnomAD databases,etc. The protein structure of the STAMBP gene was modeled that predicted c.367del(p.Glu123Lysfs *27) and c.159A>C (p.Glu53Asp) had a negative effect on the function of STAMBP protein. Conclusion:The STAMBP gene complex heterozygous mutations c.367delG(p.Glu123fsTer27) and c.159A>C(p.Glu53Asp) may be the pathogenic factor of this child, which further expands the variation spectrum of the STAMBP gene and the genotype of microcephaly-capillary malformation syndrome, and provides guidance for family genetic counseling.

Objective To explore the relationship between different obesity indicators and carotid intima-media thickness(CIMT)in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods A total of 1762 T2DM patients who visited the Endocrinology Department of Changzhou Second People's Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing Medical University and the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to February 2022 were enrolled in this study.They were divided into youth group(18～44 years old,n=402),middle aged group(45～59 years old,n=1032),and elderly group(≥60 years old,n=328)according to WHO age classification criteria.The influencing factors for CIMT thickening in T2DM patients were analyzed using binary logistic regression,and the evaluation of the predictive effect of different obesity indicators on CIMT thickening was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results The subcuta-neous fat area,visceral fat area(VFA),neck circumference(NC),BMI,WC,cardiac metabolic index(CMI),Chinese visceral fat index(CAVI),visceral fat index,triglyceride glucose index,body roundness index,lipid aggregation index,HbA1c,DBP,TC,TG,HDL-C,LDL-C were lower in the middle aged and elderly groups than in youth group(P＜0.05).Binary logistic regression showed that VFA,NC,CMI in young T2DM patients,CAVI in middle aged T2DM patients,and NC in elderly T2DM patients were influ-encing factors for CIMT thickening.ROC curve analysis showed that VFA in young T2DM patients,CAVI in middle aged T2DM patients,and NC in elderly T2DM patients had a better predictive effect on CIMT thickening,with areas under the ROC curve of 0.567,0.574,and 0.573 respectively.Conclusion VFA,CAVI,and NC have a certain predictive effect on CIMT thickening in young,middle aged,and elderly T2DM patients.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of artesunate on hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) and its mechanism in neonatal rats. Methods 7-day-old neonatal SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, artesunate 5 mg/kg group, artesunate 10 mg/kg group, artesunate 20 mg/kg group and dexamethasone 6 mg/kg group, with 18 rats in each group. HIBD models were established in groups except for the sham operation group. The sham operation group only needed to separate the left common carotid artery without ligation and nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas ventilation. Each group was injected with drug intraperitoneally right after surgery and the rats in the sham operation group and the model group were injected with an equal volume of normal saline (once a day for a total of 5 times). One hour after the last injection, the rats in each group were scored for neurological defects. After the rats were sacrificed, the brain water content was measured and the pathological changes of the brain tissues of rats were observed. Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) was used to detect the neuronal cell apoptosis, and ELISA was applied to detect the levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in brain tissues and peripheral blood of each group of rats. Western blot analysis was adopted to detect the protein expression levels of NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD (ASC) and caspase-1 in the rats brain tissues of each group. Results Compared with the model group, the neurological deficit score was decreased; the pathological damage of brain tissues was relieved; the brain water content was significantly reduced; the apoptosis number of hippocampal neurons was decreased significantly; the levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in brain tissues and peripheral blood were significantly reduced; the protein expression levels of NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 were significantly lowered in the middle-dose and high-dose artesunate groups and the dexamethasone group. Conclusion Artesunate can improve the neurological function, relieve the brain damage, and alleviate the brain edema in neonatal rats with HIBD. It can protect the HIBD, which may be related to the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reduction of inflammatory cytokine secretion.
Animals ; Rats ; Animals, Newborn ; Artesunate/pharmacology* ; Brain/metabolism* ; Caspases/metabolism* ; Dexamethasone ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/pathology* ; Inflammasomes ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Water/metabolism*

Humans ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Smoke/adverse effects* ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution

Objective:To establish Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat models of cognitive impairment through repeated stimulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the early brain development, and to inquire into the effect of " multi-hits" mediated by inflammatory response on the histology and behavior of SD rat models and related molecular mechanisms.Methods:This study adopted a group design for experiments.The " multi-hits" SD rat models were established by intraperitoneal injection of LPS.According to the random number table method, 24 pregnant rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group, LPS1 group, LPS2 group and LPS3 group, 6 rats in each group.In the control group, saline was intraperitoneally injected into rats with gestational age of 18 days and 20-day-old neonatal rats.Rats with gestational age of 18 days were intraperitoneally injected with saline in the LPS1 group, 0.05 mg/kg LPS in the LPS2 group, and 0.1 mg/kg LPS in the LPS3 group.The pups in LPS1-3 groups were all injected intraperitoneally with 1 mg/kg LPS at the postnatal age of 20 days.The motor and cognitive function of the pups were evaluated overall by behavioral experiments such as forelimb suspension tests, grid tests and water maze tests.The relative expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Notch1 and Jagged1 in brain tissue of pups was mainly detected by Western blot (WB) and histological experiments.One-way ANOVA analysis of variance and independent samples t- test were used to compare data among groups and between groups, respectively. Results:(1) Behavioral experiments: compared with the control group, LPS1-3 groups showed progressive decrease in forelimb suspension time [(34.81±5.66) s, (22.47±4.35) s, and (13.20±4.25) s vs.(43.88 ± 4.85) s], and the number of missteps in the grid experiment increased progressively (16.13±2.90, 20.75±3.10, 25.13±4.45 vs.9.00±2.72). The differences were statistically significant ( F=69.77, 35.59, all P<0.001). Both the escape latency and total distance in Morri′s water maze test increased progressively ( P<0.05). (2) WB experiment: the relative expression levels of GFAP, Notch1 and Jagged1 proteins in LPS1-3 groups were significantly higher than that in the control group ( P<0.05). (3) Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and electron microscope pathology: compared with the control group, LPS1-3 groups had more loosely arranged frontal cortices and more obvious cell pyknosis.Under the electron microscope, the cytoplasm was swelling to varying degrees, mitochondrial cristae were broken, and part of the nuclear membrane was damaged. Conclusions:In the " multi-hits" cognitive impairment model, the damage to the brain tissue structure and behavioral changes of pups may be related to the up-regulation of Notch1/Jagged1 pathway mediated by repeated exposure to LPS.