Objective To compare the effectiveness and safety of semaglutide with dulaglutide in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.Methods A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted to include patients with type 2 diabetes who received semaglutide or dulaglutide treatment at three hospitals between April 2021 and July 2023 in the study.The patients were divided into the semaglutide group(SEMA group)and the dulaglutide group(DULA group)based on their treatment.Propensity score matching was used to pair the two groups in a 1:1 ratio,aligning them based on baseline characteristics such as gender,age,body mass index,blood glucose levels,duration of diabetes,and complications.Various parameters including fasting blood glucose,2-hour postprandial blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c),serum creatinine,urea nitrogen levels,estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR),urinary albumin/creatinine ratio(UACR),and occurrences of adverse reactions were assessed at 3,6,9,and 12 months after the treatment.Results After propensity score matching,98 patients were included in both the SEMA and DULA groups,showing no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the groups(P＞0.05).At each follow-up point,the fasting blood glucose,2-hour postprandial blood glucose,and HbA1c levels of both groups showed a significant decrease compared to the baseline(P≤0.05).The inter-group comparison revealed no statistically significant differences in the changes in fasting blood glucose,2-hour postprandial blood glucose,and HbA1c levels between the two groups(P＞0.05).At the 6th month,the SEMA group exhibited a statistically significant higher rate of HbA1c＜7％compared to the DULA group(P＜0.05).In the SEMA group,serum creatinine and urea nitrogen decreased significantly at the 6th month compared to baseline,while eGFR showed an increase at the 3rd and 6th month,and UACR decreased,all with statistical significance(P＜0.05).In the DULA group,there was a statistically significant increase in serum creatinine and decrease at the 3rd and 6th months in eGFR,respectively.Additionally,urea nitrogen levels decreased significantly at the 9th month,all differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).The inter-group comparison revealed that at the 3rd and 6th month,the SEMA group exhibited a greater reduction in serum creatinine levels compared to the DULA group.Additionally,the SEMA group demonstrated a more pronounced increase in eGFR levels than the DULA group,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).At the 6th month,the SEMA group exhibited a significantly greater decrease in UACR and a significantly lower incidence of renal insufficiency compared to the DULA group(P＜0.05).There were no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Semaglutide and dulaglutide can significantly improve blood glucose control,exhibit comparable effectiveness and safety in lowering blood glucose levels,and semaglutide has a potentially protective effect on renal function.

Oral bacteria are associated with a variety of oral diseases such as caries,periodontal disease and oral cancer.Some patho-genic bacteria also play an important role in the occurrence and development of systemic diseases.The rapid identification of bacterial pathogens helps the diagnosis and precise treatment of oral diseases.Raman spectroscopy is a simple,rapid and non-invasive novel de-tection technique that can provide abundant and detailed bacterial information and can rapidly identify bacteria,but the application of this technique in oral clinical settings is still relatively rare and needs further exploration.This paper summarizes the research progress of Raman spectroscopy in the identification of oral bacteria and discusses the prospects and challenges of its clinical application.

Hypoglycemia can lead to physical and psychological disorders, which are associated with a decrease in quality of life and an increase in mortality risk. Compared to those hospitalized, homebound and community patients have a higher incidence of hypoglycemia and are more vulnerable to the disorders. Hypoglycemia is preventable and treatable, timely intervention can preserve physical well-being of patients and reduce the mortality risk. This article reviews the incidence of hypoglycemia in community diabetic patients, and the knowledge and awareness of patients about hypoglycemia, including the onset inducement, symptoms, hazards, coping and prevention, to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients.

The correlation between hearing loss (HL) and physical performance in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) remains poorly investigated. This study explored the association between HL and physical performance in patients on MHD. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2020 and April 2021 in seven hemodialysis centers in Shanghai and Suzhou, China. The hearing assessment was performed using pure-tone average (PTA). Physical performance was assessed using the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), handgrip strength, and gait speed. Results: Finally, 838 adult patients (male, 516 [61.6%]; 61.2 ± 2.6 years) were enrolled. Among them, 423 (50.5%) had mild to profound HL (male, 48.6% and female, 53.4%). Patients with HL had poorer physical performance than patients without HL (p < 0.001). TUGT was positively correlated with PTA (r = 0.265, p < 0.001), while handgrip strength and gait speed were negatively correlated with PTA (r = –0.356, p < 0.001 and r = –0.342, p < 0.001, respectively). Physical performance in patients aged <60 years showed significant dose-response relationships with HL. After adjusting for confounders, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for HL across the TUGT quartiles (lowest to highest) were 1.00 (reference), 1.15 (0.73–1.81), 1.69 (1.07–2.70), and 2.87 (1.69–4.88) (p for trend = 0.005). Conclusion: Lower prevalence of HL was associated with a faster TUGT and a stronger handgrip strength in patients on MHD.

ObjectiveTo explore the characteristics of tongue manifestations and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome （pSS） of different time. MethodpSS patients who visited TCM Department of Rheumatism in China-Japan Friendship Hospital from December 2018 to October 2021 were included and grouped according to the disease courses （short<5 years， medium 5-10 years， long > 10 years）. Chi-square test was used for comparison between three groups and Bonferroni method for multiple comparisons. In the pairwise comparison， P<0.017 indicated significant difference. Chi-square test was performed on the syndrome and specific tongue manifestations with inter-group differences to analyze the trend of tongue manifestations and TCM syndromes over time （interval： two years）. ResultA total of 193 pSS patients were enrolled， with 85 （44.0%） of short disease course， 69 （35.8%） of medium disease course， and 39 （20.2%） of long disease course. The common tongue manifestations were crimson tongue， fissured tongue， thin tongue， lack of fluid， and dry coating， which showed no significant difference among the three groups. Higher proportion of patients with light red tongue was observed in the group with short disease course than in group with medium disease course （χ²=6.407， P<0.017）. Higher proportions of patients with thick coating （χ²=6.784， P<0.017） and phlegm-dampness syndrome （χ²=11.545， P<0.017） and lower proportion of patients with Qi deficiency syndrome （χ²=12.706， P<0.017） were found in the group with short disease course than in the group with long disease course. Patients with medium （χ²=6.358， P<0.017） and long （χ²=8.279， P<0.017） disease course tended to have exfoliated coating compared with those with short disease course， and the proportion of patients with exfoliated coating rose and the proportion of patients with thick greasy coating decreased over time （P_trend<0.05）. In addition， the proportion of patients with phlegm-dampness syndrome decreased and that with Qi deficiency syndrome increased over time （P_trend<0.05）. ConclusionIn the early stage， patients with pSS often show both dryness and dampness， as manifested by the thick greasy coating and phlegm-dampness syndrome. In the medium and late stage， patients often have Qi-Yin deficiency， as evidenced by exfoliated coating and Qi deficiency. In the clinical practice， medicines should be prescribed based on tongue manifestations and TCM syndrome of patients.

ObjectiveTo summarize the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome in primary Sjögren's syndrome （pSS） patients with interstitial lung disease （ILD） and to explore associated factors. MethodA survey was conducted and pSS patients who were treated in TCM department of rheumatism at China-Japan Friendship Hospital from December 2018 to April 2022 were included. Tongue manifestations and syndromes of patients were recorded. pSS patients with ILD were classified into the pSS-ILD group and those without the ILD were included in the pSS-non-ILD group. The tongue manifestations， syndromes， and laboratory indexes were compared between the two groups， and logistic regression was used to explore the factors associated with pSS-ILD. ResultA total of 200 pSS patients were included， with 186 （93.0%） females， median age of 57 years， and median disease course of 60 months， of which 44 （22%） had pSS-ILD. In terms of tongue manifestations， pSS-ILD patients generally had dark/purple/stasis tongue， fissured tongue， and tongue with little fluid， thick coating， yellow coating， and greasy coating. The proportion patients with yellow coating was higher in pSS-ILD group than in the pSS-non-ILD group （χ²=4.799，P<0.05）. In terms of syndrome， more than 40% of pSS-ILD patients had Qi deficiency， Yin deficiency， phlegm-dampness， Qi stagnation， and/or blood stasis syndrome. As for Yin deficiency， liver-kidney Yin deficiency syndrome ranked the first. For Qi deficiency， lung Qi deficiency syndrome was most commonly seen. The proportion of patients with lung Qi deficiency was higher in the pSS-ILD group than in the pSS-non-ILD group （χ²=18.667，P<0.01）. As to laboratory indexes， compared with the pSS-non-ILD group， pSS-ILD group had high proportion of anti-SSA-positive patients （P<0.05） and high levels of C-reactive protein （CRP） （P<0.01）， complement C3 （χ²=4.332，P<0.05）， and complement C4 （P<0.05）. Logistic regression analysis showed that pSS with ILD was positively associated with lung Qi deficiency ［odds ratio （OR）=6.079， 95% confidence interval （CI） 2.585-14.298， P<0.01）］ and yellow coating （OR=5.260， 95% CI 1.337-20.692， P<0.05） and negatively associated with low C4 （OR=0.199， 95% CI 0.070-0.564， P<0.01）. ConclusionAbout 22% of pSS patients had ILD， and patients with pSS-ILD generally have Qi deficiency， Yin deficiency， phlegm-dampness， Qi stagnation， and/or blood stasis syndrome. Yellow coating， lung Qi deficiency and C4 level are factors associated with pSS combined with ILD.

Human fibroblast growth factor 21 (hFGF21) has become a candidate drug for regulating blood glucose and lipid metabolism. The poor stability and short half-life of hFGF21 resulted in low target tissue availability, which hampers its clinical application. In this study, the hFGF21 was fused with a recombinant human serum albumin (HSA), and the resulted fusion protein rHSA-hFGF21 was expressed in Pichia pastoris. After codon optimization, the recombinant gene fragment rHSA-hFGF21 was inserted into two different vectors (pPIC9k and pPICZαA) and transformed into three different strains (X33, GS115 and SMD1168), respectively. We investigated the rHSA-hFGF21 expression levels in three different strains and screened an engineered strain X33-pPIC9K-rHSA-hFGF21 with the highest expression level. To improve the production efficiency of rHSA-hFGF21, we optimized the shake flask fermentation conditions, such as the OD value, methanol concentration and induction time. After purification by hollow fiber membrane separation, Blue affinity chromatography and Q ion exchange chromatography, the purity of the rHSA-hFGF21 protein obtained was 98.18%. Compared to hFGF21, the biostabilities of rHSA-hFGF21, including their resistance to temperature and trypsinization were significantly enhanced, and its plasma half-life was extended by about 27.6 times. Moreover, the fusion protein rHSA-hFGF21 at medium and high concentration showed a better ability to promote glucose uptake after 24 h of stimulation in vitro. In vivo animal studies showed that rHSA-hFGF21 exhibited a better long-term hypoglycemic effect than hFGF21 in type 2 diabetic mice. Our results demonstrated a small-scale production of rHSA-hFGF21, which is important for large-scale production and clinical application in the future.
Animals ; Blood Glucose/metabolism* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents/metabolism* ; Methanol/metabolism* ; Mice ; Pichia/metabolism* ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; Recombinant Proteins/metabolism* ; Saccharomycetales ; Serum Albumin/metabolism* ; Serum Albumin, Human/metabolism*

Qingweisan is one of the classical prescriptions commonly used in the treatment of oral diseases. By means of Bibliometrics， the authors collected the ancient books on Qingweisan and sifted out 411 valid data， involving 116 classics of traditional Chinese medicine. The historical origin， drug composition， indications， principle of composition， dosage，and preparation of Qingweisan were statistically analyzed， and it was found that the prescription originated from the Treatise on Spleen and Stomach（《脾胃论》） by LI Dongyuan and is composed of Rehmanniae Radix， Angelica Sinensis， Cortex Moutan， Coptidis Rhizoma and Cimicifugae Rhizoma， with the functions of clearing stomach， purging fire， cooling blood and dispersing depression. And Qingweisan was mainly used to treat toothache， headache， and preference for cold and aversion to heat caused by "excessive heat in yang brightness meridian". There were 352 indications recorded， most of which followed LI Dongyuan's theory and the expanded indications reached 70 kinds. Specifically， toothache （132） was the most， accounting for 22.49% of the total indications， followed by headache （60， 10.22%）. In addition， Qingweisan was widely used in modern clinical practice for multiple system diseases， among which oral system （197） was dominant， accounting for 72.69%， followed by skin system （28， 10.33%） and digestive system （27， 9.96%）. Although the indications were wide， the pathogenesis always belonged to "upward attack of stomach fire". Through the excavation and statistical analysis of the ancient books on Qingweisan and its modern clinical application， the authors aimed to provide a more scientific reference for the research and application of classical famous prescriptions.

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of Bushen Shengxue prescription and Yiqi Yangxue prescription in the treatment of chronic aplastic anemia and the effect on T cell subsets and the expression of T-box expressed in T cells （T-bet） and GATA binding protein 3 （GATA3）. MethodA total of 585 patients with chronic aplastic anemia who were treated in 19 hospitals in China from May 2018 to June 2021 were enrolled. With the prospective， double-blind and randomized control methods， the patients were randomized into three groups： kidney deficiency group， Qi and blood deficiency group， and control group. The three groups were respectively treated with Bushen Shengxue prescription granule， Yiqi Yangxue prescription granule， and Placebo （half the dose of Bushen Shengxue formula granules）. In addition， all of them were given oral cyclosporin and androgen. The treatment lasted 6 months， with 3 months as a course. The blood routine indexes， T cell subsets， and fusion genes T-bet and GATA3 before and after treatment were analyzed， and the safety indexes were monitored. ResultDuring the observation， a total of 75 cases dropped out and 18 were rejected. Finally， 161 cases in the kidney deficiency group， 164 in the Qi and blood deficiency group， and 167 in the control group were included. After 6 months of treatment， the total effective rate was 98.8% （159/161） in the kidney deficiency group， which was higher than the 79.9% （131/164） in the Qi and blood deficiency group （χ²=30.135， P<0.01） and the 61.7% （103/167） in the control group （χ²=70.126， P<0.01）. The total effective rate was higher in the Qi and blood deficiency group than in the control group （χ²=13.232， P<0.01）. After treatment， the hemoglobin （HGB） content increased significantly in three groups （P<0.05） as compared with that before treatment， particularly the kidney deficiency group （P<0.01）. After treatment， the white blood cell （WBC） count and platelet （PLT） count in the kidney deficiency group and the control group increased compared with those in the Qi and blood deficiency group （P<0.01）. There was no specific difference in neutrophils （ANC） after treatment among the three groups. At the same time point， the level of T helper type 1 （Th1） cells， Th1/Th2 ratio （P<0.05）， level of CD4⁺， and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio （P<0.05） were significantly low in the kidney deficiency group among three groups. There was no significant difference in CD19^-， HLA/DR⁺， and CD25⁺ between the kidney deficiency group and the other two groups， but the T-bet of the kidney deficiency group and the control group was lower than that of the Qi and blood deficiency group （P<0.05）. ConclusionBushen Shengxue prescription exerts therapeutic effect on the aplastic anemia by improving the immunoregulatory mechanism， inhibiting the activity of immune system， modulating T cell subsets， suppressing Th1 and CD4⁺， and promoting bone marrow hematopoiesis. Moreover， it is safe with little side effects， which is worthy of further promotion.

Objective:To review clinical outcomes of extended V-Y latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap in reconstruction of chest wall defects.Methods:Patients receiving chest wall defect reconstruction with extended V-Y latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap at Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018 were enrolled. Patients were followed up for more than 6 months to detect complications such as blood supply disorder of the flap, wound dehiscence, seroma or tumor recurrence.Results:A total of 16 patients, aged 28-78 years, with an average age of 54.8 years, were included. The chest wall defect size ranged from 10 cm×15 cm to 19 cm×26 cm. Among these cases, 1 case had venous congestion in the distal triangle area of the flap, 1 case had partial wound dehiscence of the flap, 2 cases developed seroma on the back and 2 cases under the flap. All cases healed after changing dressing and drain placement. All the other cases had complete flap survival and primary wound healing. All cases were followed up from 7 to 29 months, with good flap appearance and function and patient satisfaction with results.Conclusions:Chest wall defect reconstruction with V-Y latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap is safe and reliable. It can repair a large chest wall wound and allow primary closure of the donor site simultaneously, which is worthy of being popularized in chest wall reconstruction.