Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction,which is caused by the body's uncontrolled immune response to infection.Tissue masts cells(MC),derived from blood mast cell progenitors,are one of the classical effector cells in inflammatory response.MC plays an important role in sepsis via secreting a variety of inflammatory mediators and cytokines.Here,we summarized the potential roles of MC in sepsis,which is expected to provide novel ideas for the future research on the novel mechanisms of MC in sepsis.

Objective:To investigate the expression of IL-18, IL-18-binding protein a(IL-18BPa) and IL-18 receptor α(IL-18Rα) by peripheral blood CD4 + Th17 cells of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and the effects of allergens on their expression. Methods:This study enrolled 45 outpatients with AR and 23 healthy control subjects receiving physical examination in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from October 2019 to September 2020. According to the results of skin prick test, the 45 patients were divided into two groups: AR group with positive results (24 cases) and nAR group with negative results (21 cases). Blood samples of them were collected. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the effects of allergens on the expression of IL-18, IL-18BPa and IL-18Rα at protein level by peripheral blood CD4 + Th17 cells. The level of IL-17A in plasma was measured by Bioplex system, and its correlation with the percentage of IL-18 + Th17 cells was analyzed. Results:Compared with the healthy control group, the AR group showed increased ratios of CD4 + Th17 and IL-18 + Th17 cells ( P<0.01), decreased ratio of IL-18BPa + Th17 cells ( P<0.01), enhanced mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of IL-18BPa ( P<0.01) and reduced MFI of IL-18Rα ( P<0.01); the nAR group showed enhanced MFI of IL-18BPa ( P<0.000 1) and reduced MFI of IL-18Rα ( P<0.000 1). The ratio of IL-18 + Th17 cells and the MFI of IL-18Rα in the AR group were higher than those in the nAR group ( P<0.05, P<0.01). House dust mite extract and Platanus pollen extract induced the expression of IL-18 and IL-18BPa by CD4 + Th17 cells of AR patients ( P<0.05). Moreover, house dust mite extract directly induced the CD4 + Th17 cells isolated from the healthy control subjects to express IL-18 and IL-18R ( P<0.05). Compared with healthy control subjects, AR patients had higher level of IL-17A in plasma and it was moderately correlated with the ratio of IL-18 + Th17 cells ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Allergens may be involved in the pathogenesis of AR by inducing blood CD4 + Th17 cells to express IL-18 and IL-18Rα.

Objective:To analyze the genetic and molecular characteristics of H9N2 subtype avian influenza viruses from external environment and humans in Anhui Province from 2013 to 2022.Methods:Environmental samples and human samples were collected from Anhui influenza surveillance network laboratory. Sixty-three strains of virus were isolated in chicken embryos. RT-PCR was used to amplify the virus and whole genome sequencing was performed. To construct gene evolutionary tree and analyze its genetic characteristics and potential glycosylation sites.Results:The hemagglutinin (HA) gene belongs to the 9.2.4.5 clade, and the protein cleavage sites are mostly " PSRSSR\GL". The neuraminidase (NA) gene, basic protein-1(PB1) gene, acidic protein (PA) gene, non-structural protein (NS) gene and nucleoprotein (NP) gene belong to the F/98 clade, the matrix protein (MP) gene belongs to the G1/97 clade, and the basic protein-2 (PB2) gene belongs to the ST/7488 clade. Mutations of T155N, R164Q, H183N, T189D/V, A190V/T and Q226L occurred in HA protein, deletion of NA protein occurred at 62-64 sites, and mutations of T271A, I292V/M and E627V/L occurred in PB2 protein. At the same time, mutations of K356R and S409N occurred in the PA protein.Conclusions:The H9N2 subtype avian influenza viruses collected from external environment and human sources in Anhui province from 2013 to 2022 belong to the same evolutionary branch, and amino acid site mutations suggest that the virus shows a tendency to gradually adapt to the mammalian host environment. Therefore, further studies on the adaptive evolution of the virus and related monitoring work are needed.

Objective:To detect the expression of Toll-like receptor 7(TLR7)in blood neutrophils of patients with allergic rhi-nitis(AR),allergic asthma(AA)and allergic rhinitis combined with allergic asthma(ARA)before and after allergen challenge.Methods:A total of 44 AR,36 AA,19 ARA patients and 19 healthy control(HC)were recruited,the extracts of Artemisia siever-siana wild allergen(ASWE),house dust mite allergen(HDME)and Platanus pollen allergen(PPAE)were used to challenge periph-eral blood of HC as well as the patients,the expression of TLR7 in neutrophils was detected by flow cytometry.Results:In a resting state,compared with HC,upregulated expression of TLR7 in neutrophils in patients with airway allergy:the percentage of TLR7+neu-trophils in AR,AA,ARA patients increased 6 times,3.18 times and 6.15 times,respectively,and the mean fluorescence intensity(MFI)of TLR7 expression in neutrophil in ARA was enhanced by 24%.The results of allergen challenge tests showed that the expres-sion of neutrophils TLR7 did not change in HC subjects after the allergen challenge,whereas the expression of TLR7 in neutrophils of patients with airway allergy was upregulated after the allergens challenge.After HDME and PPAE challenge,the percentage of TLR7+neutrophils in peripheral of AR patients increased by 8.40%and 33.03%,respectively,and the MFI of TLR7 enhanced by 29.62%and 35.72%,respectively.After ASWE and PPAE challenge.The percentage of TLR7+neutrophils in peripheral of AA pa-tients increased by 59.18%and 1.06 times,respectively,and the MFI of TLR7 enhanced by 68.93%and 47.33%,respectively.How-ever,after HDME stimulation only enhanced the MFI of neutrophil TLR7 in AA patients by 66.14%;after HDME challenge,the per-centage of TLR7 and MFI in peripheral blood neutrophils of patients with ARA increased by 21.05%and 35.61%,respectively,while after PPAE challenge,the percentage of TLR7+cells in patients with ARA increased by 20.07%.Conclusion:The expression of TLR7 in blood neutrophils is increased in patients with allergic airway diseases after allergen stimulation,suggesting that allergens may be involved in the occurrence and development of allergic airway diseases by inducing TLR7 expression changes in neutrophils.

The prevalence of allergic airway diseases has been increasing in recent years. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) plays an imperative role in allergic airway diseases by binding to IL-18Rα, thereby initiating the downstream proinflammatory pathway. IL-18 also binds to IL-18BP, thus inhibiting its binding to IL-18Rα. Therefore, further understanding of the role of IL-18 and its action mechanisms in allergic airway diseases is important for the treatment of allergic airway diseases, and for the development of IL-18-related biological agents.

Gastric cancer （GC） is a digestive tract tumor that occurs in the epithelial tissues of the gastric mucosa， seriously affecting the life and health of patients， and its mortality rate ranks the third among malignancies. Although medical technology has made great progress in recent years， the progression of GC still cannot be effectively controlled by surgery， chemotherapy， and targeted therapy. The pathogenesis of GC is extremely complex and is closely related to the tumor microenvironment， chronic inflammation， and immune escape， among which the reduction of tumor cell apoptosis is one of the important mechanisms for the occurrence and development of GC. Apoptosis refers to the process of spontaneous termination of cell life caused by genes under specific physiological or pathological conditions， which is of great significance for maintaining the stability of the internal environment. Researchers have found that in the GC state， mitochondrial endogenous apoptosis， endoplasmic reticulum stress， external death receptors， and other apoptosis pathways are regulated by multiple signaling pathways and genes， which together lead to the decline of GC cell apoptosis rate and thus promote the progression of GC. Chinese medicine is advantageous and characterized by multiple components， multiple targets， synergistic effect， and few adverse reactions. A large number of studies have shown that polysaccharide components， as effective components of Chinese medicine， have biological activities such as cancer inhibition， blood sugar control， anti-inflammation， antioxidant damage， and anti-virus， and can effectively inhibit the deterioration of GC by inducing cell apoptosis， gradually becoming a hot spot in GC drug research and development. However， systematic reviews on the apoptosis of GC induced by Chinese medicine polysaccharides are rarely reported. Therefore， this paper analyzed and summarized the studies of Chinese medicine polysaccharides in promoting apoptosis and interfering with GC， in order to provide a theoretical basis for the basic research， new drug development， and clinical application of Chinese medicine polysaccharides in the intervention of GC.

Objective:To investigate the effect of different pressure balloon dilation combined with prying reduction and bone graft fixation in the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures and the risk factors of postoperative re-fracture.Methods:One hundred cases of thoracolumbar fracture patients admitted to Cangzhou Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital in Hebei Province from March 2019 to June 2021 were selected. Prospective randomized controlled study method was used and random number table method was used to divide them into three groups: incomplete expansion group (33 cases), moderate expansion group (33 cases) and complete expansion group (34 cases). All the 3 groups were treated with balloon dilation combined with prying reduction and bone graft fixation. The pressure of balloon dilation in incomplete dilation group, moderate dilation group and complete dilation group was 100 psi, 150 psi and no more than 200 psi respectively, and the volume of balloon dilation was 0.5∶1, 1∶1 and 1.5∶1 respectively. The operation time, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative drainage volume, vertebral anterior margin recovery rate and hospital stay, as well as local Cobb angle, visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores before and after operation were compared among the three groups. According to the follow-up of whether there is re-fracture after surgery, the clinical data of the re-fracture group and the non re-fracture group were compared, and the risk factors of the re-fracture after surgery were analyzed. The measurement data with normal distribution was expressed as: independent sample t-test was used for comparison between two groups, one-way ANOVA or repeated measurement ANOVA was used for comparison between three groups, and SNK-q test was used for comparison between two groups. Counting data were expressed in cases or cases (%), and compared between groups by χ 2 Inspection. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of refracture after thoracolumbar fracture. Results:There was no significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative drainage volume among the three groups ( P=0.096, 0.328 and 0.344, respectively). The recovery rate of vertebral anterior edge height in moderate expansion group was higher than that in incomplete expansion group and complete expansion group ((84.15±4.21)% vs (70.18±7.44)%, (75.94±6.56)%), and the hospitalization time was shorter than that in incomplete expansion group and complete expansion group ((10.38±2.35) d vs (15.18±3.44), (14.59±2.48) d) (all P<0.001). Before treatment, there was no significant difference in Cobb angle, VAS and ODI scores among the three groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the Cobb angle, VAS and ODI scores of patients in the three groups were lower than those before treatment, and the moderate expansion group were lower than those in the incomplete expansion group and the complete expansion group ((14.08±2.15) ° vs (16.48±4.85) °, (15.06±3.45) °, (1.81±0.53)% vs (2.25±0.41), (2.31±0.42), (18.16±2.18)% vs (20.48±4.85), (20.01±4.45) points) (all P<0.001). 100 patients were followed up until the fracture was healed. They were divided into re-fracture group (15 cases) and non re-fracture group (85 cases) according to whether there was re-fracture after operation. The results of multifactor logistic regression analysis showed that body mass index and bone mineral density were protective factors for patients with thoracolumbar fracture after operation (odds ratio was 0.66 and 0.15 respectively, 95% confidence interval: 0.51~0.86, 0.05~0.42, P values were 0.006 and <0.001 respectively), The old wedge-shaped change of the vertebral body and the abnormal structure of the lumbar spine are the risk factors for postoperative re-fracture (odds ratio 4.22 and 6.36, 95% confidence interval 1.14-15.56 and 1.43-28.21, respectively, P values were 0.027 and 0.015). Conclusions:In the treatment of thoracolumbar fracture with prying reduction and bone grafting fixation, the effect of balloon expansion pressure of 150 psi is better. Body mass index (BMI) and bone mineral density (BMD) were protective factors for postoperative re-fracture of patients with thoracolumbar fracture. Old wedge-shaped change of vertebral body and abnormal lumbar structure are risk factors for postoperative re-fracture.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of balloon dilation percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) combined with prying reduction bone grafting in the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures, and its impact on patients′neurological function.Methods:The clinical data of 184 patients with thoracolumbar fractures from March 2017 to May 2020 in Cangzhou Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Hebei Province were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 86 patients were treated with balloon dilation PKP combined with prying reduction and bone grafting (combined group), and 98 patients were treated with open reduction decompression and internal fixation (internal fixation group). The intraoperative bleeding volume, surgical time, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, efficacy and complications were recorded. One year after surgery, X-ray films were taken to measure the height of the anterior border and posterior border of vertebral body and the Cobb angle, and the pain visual analogue score (VAS), Barthel index and neurological Frankel grade were evaluated.Results:The intraoperative bleeding volume and surgical time in combined group were significantly higher than those in internal fixation group: (205.64 ± 45.63) ml vs. (180.37 ± 30.08) ml and (110.22 ± 28.91) min vs. (81.66 ± 20.77) min, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01); there was no statistical difference in intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency between the two groups ( P>0.05). The total effective rate in combined group was significantly higher than that in internal fixation group: 91.86% (79/86) vs. 79.59% (78/98), the total incidence of complications was significantly lower than that in internal fixation group: 13.95% (12/86) vs. 38.78% (38/98), and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05 or <0.01). The height of the anterior border and posterior border of vertebral body 1 year after surgery in combined group were significantly higher than those in internal fixation group: (95.78 ± 1.59) mm vs. (62.74 ± 1.80) mm and (98.53 ± 3.80) mm vs. (95.06 ± 3.28) mm, the Cobb angle was significantly smaller than that in internal fixation group: (6.53 ± 2.80)° vs. (18.06 ± 2.68)°, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01). The VAS and Barthel index 1 year after surgery in both groups improved significantly, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01), but there were no statistical differences between the two groups ( P>0.05). The rate of neurological Frankel grade E 1 year after surgery in combined group was significantly higher than that in internal fixation group: 56.98% (49/86) vs. 23.47% (23/98), and there was statistical difference ( P<0.01). Conclusions:Compared with open reduction decompression and internal fixation, the balloon dilation PKP combined with prying reduction and bone grafting patients with thoracolumbar fractures is better for vertebral reduction and deformity repair, with higher safety, more significant pain relief, and better recovery of daily life and neurological function.

Objective:Analysis of the characteristics of influenza epidemic in Anhui Province and quantification of the impact of different factors on influenza occurrence, providing scientific basis for better influenza prevention and control.Methods:Descriptive analysis and factor analysis were conducted on influenza-like illness (ILI) cases and RT-PCR results in Anhui Province from 2013 to 2021 using data from China's Influenza Monitoring Information System.Results:The percentage of influenza-like illness (ILI%) of sentinel hospitals in Anhui Province from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2021 was 3.80% (1 209 142/31 779 987), showing an overall increasing trend, with a relatively high proportion in 2017-2018 at 4.30% (191 148/4 448 211). The proportion of ILI cases in infants and young children aged 0-4 years was a relatively high at 54.14% (654 676/1 209 142), and the highest ILI% was observed in Fuyang City, Anhui Province (6.25%, 236 863/3 788 863). Laboratory monitoring results showed that the positive rate of ILI cases in sentinel hospitals in 8 influenza monitoring years was 16.38% (34 868/212 912), showing an increasing trend year by year, with a relatively proportion in 2017-2018 at 26.19% (6 936/26 488). The detection rate of school-age children aged 5-14 years was a relativelyhigh at 28.81% (13 869/48 144), and the positive rate was a relatively high in Wuhu City among the 16 cities, reaching 22.01% (2 693/122 237). Influenza activity showed a single peak in winter-spring and alternating double peaks in winter-spring and summer, with different subtypes alternating, and A (H3N2) was the dominant subtype in summer. The results of a multiple logistic regression model showed that the positive rate was higher in 2017-2018, among children aged 5-14 years, in winter, and in southern Anhui.Conclusions:Influenza epidemic in Anhui Province has a clear seasonal pattern, and the ILI% and detection rate have shown an upward trend from 2013 to 2021. Therefore, it is suggested to ensure vaccine supply before the winter-spring influenza season arrives, and to strengthen vaccine uptake and health education to avoid the risk of infection during the peak period of influenza.

Abstract: Objective To analyze the epidemic characteristics and influencing factors of school influenza-like cases in 2011-2022 in Nanchang, so as to provide reference for the prevention and control of school influenza outbreaks. 　　　Methods The epidemiological relevant data of school influenza-like cases from 2011 to 2022 in Nanchang and the pathogen test results of respiratory tract samples were collected for epidemiological and etiology analysis. Results　From 2011 to 2022, a total of 142 influenza-like cases were reported in schools in Nanchang, with a cumulative morbidity of 2 880 cases and a morbidity rate of 1.89%. A total of 1 263 samples were collected, with an overall positive influenza nucleic acid detection rate of 58.91%. The highest proportion of outbreaks occurred in 2017-2019, while the lowest incidence was in 2011-2013. Outbreaks mainly occurred from November to March of the following year (accounting for 79.58%), presenting obvious seasonal characteristics. The distribution was mainly in primary schools, accounting for 70.42% (100/142) of all outbreaks. From 2011 to 2022, all types of influenza viruses were tested, and more than 2 types of influenza viruses were prevalent each year. The dominant strains alternated between influenza A H1N1, influenza A H3N2 and Victoria lineages of type B influenza viruses. From 2011 to 2019, the influenza epidemic in schools in Nanchang showed a continuous upward trend. During COVID-19 in 2020-2022, Nanchang adopted a variety of non-drug prevention and control measures for COVID-19, and both the number of influenza epidemics in various schools and the number of influenza virus nucleic acid positive cases decreased. The average number of classes involved in the epidemic was (3±2), and the average duration of the epidemic was (8±4) days. 　Conclusions The outbreaks of influenza-like illness in Nanchang schools is highly prevalent in winter and spring, , with urban primary schools being the high incidence locations. Non-drug prevention and control measures for COVID-19 have an impact on the epidemic trend of influenza, so the continuous monitoring of the school influenza virus activities and improving the timeliness of the report will be conducive to the rapid control of the epidemic.