Objective To investigate the effect of spleen on hepatic macrophages mediated activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)in mice with liver fibrosis.Methods Eighteen male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups.Mice in Group A and Group B were injected intraperitoneally with CCl4 to establish liver fibrosis mouse model,while those in Group C were injected with corn oil as normal control.Four weeks later,mice with liver fibrosis received splenectomy(Spx)or sham operation(Sham),respectively.After continuous injection for 2 weeks,liver homogenates(L-Homo)were prepared and liver cells were isolated from the three groups.Expressions of IL-1β,IL-13,TGF-β,TNF-α,PDGF-β and VEGF in the liver homogenates of the three groups were detected by Luminex multifactor analysis.The expressions of these cytokines in liver macrophages(L-Mψ)and other non-parenchymal cells of Sham and Spx mice were analyzed by Real-time quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)and flow cytometry.Macrophage cell line RAW264.7 or bone marrow-derived macrophages(BMDMs)were treated with liver homogenates from the Sham and Spx groups.Then the differently treated RAW264.7 cells were analyzed for mRNA expressions of cytokines and glutamine metabolism-related molecules by RT-qPCR,or transwell co-cultured with hepatic stellate cell line JS1.After co-culture,the survival and extracellular matrix expression of JS1 cells were analyzed.For comparison,Student's t test(between two groups)or one-way analysis of variance(among multiple groups)were used.Results Compared with normal control group,the concentrations of IL-1β,IL-13,TGF-β and TNF-α in the L-Homo of model group were significantly increased and showed higher levels in Sham group than in Spx group.Moreover,the hepatic macrophages were indicated as the major source of these cytokines.Consistently,macrophages treated with liver homogenate of Sham mice had increased expressions of IL-1β,TGF-β and TNF-α and glutaminase(GLS).After co-culture with macrophages treated with liver homogenate of Sham group rather than Spx group,JS1 expressed higher expressions of α-SMA and collagens.Conclusion The spleen is involved in regulating the secretion of cytokines by hepatic macrophages and enhancing their ability to activate hepatic stellate cells.

Objective To analyze the changes in the expression levels of serum Dickkopf-related protein 1(DKK-1)and latent transforming growth factor binding protein 2(LTBP2)in patients with connective tissue disease(CTD)related interstitial pneumonia(IP)of different disease activity levels before and after treatment.Methods A total of 121 CTD patients who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from January 2022 to October 2023 were collected and separated into an observation group(CTD-related IP patients,n=62)and a reference group(CTD without IP patients,n=59)based on the incidence of IP.The observation group was separated into a stable phase group(n=26)and an acute exacerbation phase group(n=36)based on disease activity.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)detected DKK-1 and LTBP2 levels.Pearson or Spearman were used to analyze correlations between DKK-1 and LTBP2 levels with clinical data.Logistic regression was applied to analyze influencing factors of acute exacerbation in CTD-related IP patients.Results The serum levels of DKK-1(14.98±3.32 ng/ml)and LTBP2(32.64±4.01 ng/ml)in the observation group were higher than those in the reference group(2.21±0.67 ng/ml,8.73±2.15 ng/ml),the differences were statistically significant(t=28.983,57.518,all P＜0.05).The proportions of patients with ground glass opacity(66.67%)and honeycomb opacity(52.78%),serum DKK-1(19.67±4.10 ng/ml),LTBP2(38.76±4.92 ng/ml)and C-reactive protein(CRP)(32.46±3.12 mg/L)in the acute exacerbation group were higher than those in the stable phase group(30.77%,23.08%,8.48±1.37 ng/ml,24.17±3.65 ng/ml,22.05±2.80 mg/L),the differences were statistically significant(t/x2=7.790,5.534,13.362,12.781,13.524,all P<0.05).The serum levels of DKK-1 and LTBP2 in patients with acute exacerbation of CTD-related IP after treatment were positively correlated with ground glass opacities,honeycomb opacities,CRP and different disease activity(r=0.526,0.518,0.513,0.548;0.499,0.514,0.520,0.561,all P<0.05).As the treatment time extended,the serum levels of DKK-1 and LTBP2 in CTD-related IP patients in the stable and acute exacerbation groups decreased,and the serum levels of DKK-1 and LTBP2 in the acute exacerbation group were higher than those in the stable group before treatment,1 month after treatment,and 3 months after treatment,the differences were statistically significant(t=13.355,13.206,15.913;12.781,12.263,11.161,all P<0.05).DKK-1[OR(95%CI):2.458(1.297～4.657)],LTBP2[OR(95%CI):2.739(1.567～4.789)]were independent risk factors for acute exacerbation of CTD related IP patients(all P<0.05).Conclusion The serum levels of DKK-1 and LTBP2 in CTD-related IP patients are increased,and closely related to disease activity.Both decrease after 3 months of treatment and can monitor the treatment efficacy of patients to a certain extent.

Objective Analyze the implementation effects of the specialized disease management policy(hereinafter re-ferred to as the policy)to provide reference for strengthening operational management and enhancing the integration of business and finance in public hospitals.Methods Patient information of inpatients from a large comprehensive tertiary hospital from Jan-uary 2022 to June 2023 was collected.Four out of ten single diseases focused on by the national tertiary public hospital perform-ance assessment were included in the study group for specialized disease management,while the remaining six were used as the control group.A difference-in-differences model was adopted to analyze the changes in relevant indicators such as per capita inpa-tient expenses,average length of stay,per capita drug expenses,per capita consumable expenses,and per capita examination and treatment expenses before and after the policy implementation.Additionally,the effects of policy implementation were further analyzed based on different medical insurance types.Results A total of 22 457 patients were included,with 5 879 patients in the study group(3 164 cases before policy implementation and 2 715 cases after policy implementation),and 19 741 patients in the control group.The difference-in-differences model analysis showed that after the policy implementation,per capita inpatient expenses for specialized disease management patients decreased by 32.7％,average length of stay decreased by 31.4％,drug ex-penses decreased by 49.5％,consumable expenses decreased by 24.2％,and examination and treatment expenses decreased by 29.2％.Moreover,compared to patients under non-Wuhan medical insurance,patients under Wuhan medical insurance experi-enced a greater reduction in related indicators.Conclusion The implementation of the policy effectively reduces the burden on patients seeking medical care,improves medical treatment efficiency,contributes to hospital refined management methods,deep-ens the integration of business and finance,and facilitates the transition towards leaner operations.

Vitiligo， a skin pigmentation disorder caused by the loss of melanocytes in the basal layer of the skin， is manifested as creamy white or ivory white pigmented islands on the head， face， hair， areola， genitals， mucous membranes and traumatic areas with distinct borders， seriously affecting the patient’s social， physical， and mental health. The disease has attracted wide attention in the medical circle as a difficult aesthetic dermatosis with an increasing prevalence year by year. There are still blind spots in the hypotheses that autoimmunity， melanocyte autophagy， oxidative stress， autocytotoxicity， neurohumors， and genetic and environmental factors are associated with the pathogenesis of this disease. The commonly used Western medical therapies， including glucocorticoids， small-molecule antagonists， calcium-regulated neurophosphatase inhibitors， biologics， vitamin D derivatives， phototherapy， and surgery are flawed with side effects and prone to recurrence. Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） can treat vitiligo via a wide range of pathways and targets， with definite effects and low adverse reactions. Studies have demonstrated that TCM can promote autophagy of melanocytes and protect them from oxidative stress. However， there are few systematic summaries of the signaling pathways in the TCM treatment of vitiligo. Therefore， this paper introduces the main signaling pathways involved in the TCM treatment of vitiligo by reviewing the relevant articles published at home and abroad in recent years. Specifically， the signaling pathways include the molecular hydrogen-activated nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， tyrosine kinase receptor （c-Kit）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， Janus tyrosine protein kinase （JAK）， mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK）， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）， and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase （AMPK） signaling pathways.

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of smoking network among smokers in Kunming smoking cessation outpatient service.Methods:A multicenter, cross-sectional study was carried out, and smoking cessation outpatients from 8 tertiary hospitals (the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yan′an Hospital, Ganmei Hospital, the 920 Hospital of the Chinese People′s Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Kunming First People′s Hospital, the First People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province and the Second People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province) in Kunming, Yunnan Province were included to receive a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire mainly consisted of four parts: (1) demographic characteristics of smokers; (2) the specific situation of smoking; (3) social support network; (4) smoking network. A total of 360 questionnaires were distributed in this survey, 351 were recovered, and 351 were valid, the collected data from valid questionnaire were statistically analyzed to analyze the social demographic characteristics, smoking status and smoking network characteristics of smokers.Results:In this survey, the demographic characteristics of the 351 patients in the smoking cessation clinic were as follows: there were 342 male cases (97.4%), 249 cases (70.9%) were Han, 233 patients (66.4%) were non-religious, there were 236 cases (67.2%) with college degree or above, and 51 cases (14.5%) were unemployed. The analysis of smoking status showed that 167 patients (47.6%) maintained daily smoking, 247 patients (70.4%) had plans to quit smoking, at least one parent of 258 patients (73.5%) had a history of smoking, 188 patients (53.6 %) smoked at home. In the smoking network of the surveyed patients, there were 304 patients (86.6%) who smoked together with two or more people, and more than 90 percent of the patients smoked with the same sex.Conclusions:The smoking network of patients in Kunming smoking cessation clinic is small, and a third of smokers are friends. It is suggested to use the characteristics of smoking network to carry out smoking cessation intervention activities, so as to improve the success rate of smoking cessation.

Objective:To investigate the immunogenicity and safety of a boost dose of measles, mumps, and rubella combined vaccine (MMR) for children 4 to 6 years old.Methods:Children, aged 4 to 6 years old, had vaccinated with 1 dose of measles and rubella combined vaccine(MR) at the age of 8 months and 1 dose of MMR vaccine at 18-months, were recruited in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Beijing, respectively. All children were assigned into 4, 5 and 6-year-old group. The children who met inclusion and exclusion criteria were vaccinated with 1 dose MMR vaccine, and were collected blood samples before vaccination and 35 to 42 d after the vaccination. During the study period, adverse events were collected at 30 min, 1 d, 2 d, 3 d, 4-12 d, and 13 to 42 days after vaccination. Serum was tested for IgG antibodies against measles, mumps and rubella. Geometric mean concentrations (GMC) of measles, mumps, and rubella antibodies were compared among groups by analysis of variance or non-parametric test. Seropositive rates and adverse event rates were compared among groups by Chi-square test or Fisher exact test.Results:A total of 500 children were included in immunogenicity analysis and 535 children were included in safety analysis. The overall adverse event rate was 20.37%, the most of severity for adverse events was mild. The rates of local and systemic adverse events were 0.37% and 20.00%, respectively. Symptoms of local adverse events were redness. The main systemic adverse events were fever, followed by cough, rash and runny nose. Received a dose of MMR vaccine for booster immunization, the seropositive rates of measles antibody, mumps antibody and rubella antibody were above 99% for all 3 age groups, and there was no significant difference between groups. There were significant differences in mumps antibody GMC among groups ( P=0.042), but no significant differences in measles and rubella antibodies GMC. Conclusion:The immunogenicity and safety of a boosted MMR vaccintion in children aged 4, 5 and 6 years were all similar good.

Objective To evaluate the visual improvement of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for refractory optic neuritis (ON) patients in acute phase.Methods Seventy-five affected eyes from 44 refractory ON patients with severe visual defect or resistance to high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) therapy,who were admitted to The Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 2015 and August 2016,were recruited and received TPE therapy.Among these patients,11 were male and 33 were female;the average age was 39.1 ± 13.9;31 patients had two affected eyes,13 patients had one affected eye.The course of the disease on the group of patients were more than 2 weeks,and the visual acuity worsened for more than 10 days and continued to deteriorate.TPE treatment was performed on all of the patients.BCVA was recorded before and 24 h after treatment,and the visual function was scored using visual outcome scale (VOS).At the same time,the adverse reactions of TPE treatment were observed.The paired t-test was used to compare the VOS before and after treatment.The correlation between VOS before and after treatment was analyzed by Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis.Results Among 75 affected eyes,the post-therapy VOS 3.89 ±2.13 was significantly improved from pre-therapy VOS 5.56± 1.69 (t=6.77,P＜0.001).Forty-eight of 75 eyes were improved at lease 1 score of VOS,the overall rate of visual improvement was 64.0％.Especially among the eyes with initial vision of light perception,an improved rate of 82.4％ was presented.75.0％ in those eyes with initial vision of count fingers and 67.7％ in no light perception.Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis showed a significant linear correlation between the scores of VOS before and after TPE treatment (r=0.398,P=0.01).During the course of TPE treatment,5 patients had mild adverse reactions such as low calcium reaction and allergic reaction and were well controlled after treatment.Conclusion Using TPE to treat refractory ON in acute phased can improve the visual function of patients.

Objective To measure the dynamic and static frictional resistances between different self-ligating orthodontic brackets and different combination of tandem archwires.Methods On standard model the upper right quadrant Damon Q self-ligating brackets was pasted as team A,3M Smart clip self-ligating brackets as team B and Forestadent Quick 3.0 self-ligating brackets as team C respectively.Nickel-titanium archwires of 0.012 inch and 0.016 inch and two nickel-titanium archwires of 0.014 inch were applied to simulate sliding in the brackets and measure the friction changes in brackets and archwires,so as to explore the frictional resistance between different combination of the tandem archwires and different self-ligating brackets.Results When using the combination of two 0.014-inch nickel-titanium tandem archwires,the static frictional resistances was significantly different (P＜ 0.05):team A ＜team B ＜team C while the kinetic frictional resistance was also significantly different (P＜0.05):team A ＜team B ＜team C,When using the combination of 0.012-inch and 0.016-inch nickel-titanium tandem archwires,the static frictional resistances was significantly different (P＜0.05):team A＜team B＜team C,while the kinetic frictional resistance was also significantly different (P＜0.05):team A＜team B＜team C.Gonclusion There are different frictional resistance in different kind of self-ligating brackets and different combination of the tandem archwires.The combination of two 0.014-inch nickel-titanium tandem archwire applied to Forestadent Quick 3.0 self-ligating brackets has the biggest frictional resistance while the combination of 0.012-inch and 0.016-inch nickel-titanium tandem archwire applied to the Damon Q self-ligating brackets has the lowest frictional resistance,which enables the teeth to move at the fastest speed and facilitates the following use of the edgewires.

Objective To explore the relationship between the clinical features,serological markers and European League Against Rheumatism SS Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) scores of primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome (SS).Methods We enrolled 106 patients,who fulfilled the 2002 classification criteria for primary SS from December 2008 to January 2015,to evaluate the relationship among the clinical characteristics,laboratory features,serological variables and ESSDAI scores.According to serological variables,the prognosis was subdivided into three distinct groups:favourable (no serological markers),intermediate (one serological marker) and poor (two or more serological markers).These data were analyzed by Chi-square test and variance analysis.Results The mean ESSDAI score of 106 pSS patients was (11±7).ESSDAI score was categorized according to the EULAR-SS recommendations as low activity,moderate activity and high activity (scores of 0-4,5-13 and ≥14,respectively),and the positive rate of antinuclear antibody (ANA) 1:100 (6 cases,37.5％;37 cases,66.1％;32 cases,94.1％) in three different ESSDAI levels was statistically different (x2＝18.110,P＜0.01).Those with positive ANA 1:100[positive (13±7) and negative (7±4)],anti-SSA antibody postive (12±7) and negative (9±7),anti-RNP antibody (positive 16±9 and negative 10±6) had higher ESSDAI scores than those with negative ones (F=8.812,P=0.0001;F=3.862,P=0.024;F=5.786,P=0.004).No statistical difference in ESSDAI means were found between patients with positive anti-SSB antibody,rheumatoid factor (RF),FS level,dry mouth,Raynoud's phenomenon and psychosomatic diseases.The ESSDAI scores of favourable group,intermediate group and poor group were significantly different (8±5,10±7,14±7,F=8.715,P=0.000 1).In comparison with the other two groups,the poor pSS patients had a higher frequency of positive ANA 1:100 (15 cases,55.6％;20 cases,57.1％;40 cases,90.9％),anti-SSA antibody(11 cases,0.7％;23 cases,41.1％;36 cases,81.8％),anti-SSB antibody (6 cases,2 2.2％;13 cases,37.1％;23 cases,52.3％),anti-RNP antibody (0 case,0;2 cases,5.7％;9 cases,20.5％) (x2=17.408,P=0.002;x2=14.306,P=0.006;x2=12.330,P=0.015;x2=1 1.482,P=0.022).Conclusion Patients with two or more serological markers may have higher ESSDAI score,and which in turn may associate with poor prognosis.

Objective To evaluate the expression of human vascular endothelial cell growth factors 165 (hVEGF165) gene transfected into fibroblasts by recombinant adenovirus and study the repairing effect of this cells on radiated skin ulcer in rats.Methods The recombinant adenovirus with hVEGF165 was established and transfected to rat primary fibroblasts, and its expression of hVEGF165 in fibroblasts was identified with real-time PCR, immunocytochemistry and Western blot.Twenty four clean grade SD rats of were irradiated locally with 50 Gy γ rays to generate an animal model of radiation skin injury.The hVEGF165-transfected cells were injected to the irradiated site under rat skin 7 d post-irradiation.The therapeutic effects on the irradiated skin wound were evaluated through general observation as well as histological staining of HE.The expression of hVEGF in the irradiated skin tissue with fibroblasts injection was analyzed by Real-time PCR.Results The hVEGF165 gene was overexpressed in the transfected cells and approached to 88 373-fold bigger compared to controls transfected with blank vectors, and an extensive expression of VEGF in the cytoplasm of transfected cells was observed by immunohistochemistry.VEGF protein with the relative molecular mass of 23 000 was also detected in cell lysate by Western blot.The local skin ulcers in rats occurred about two weeks after irradiation.In the hVEGF165-transfected group, the average area of radiation-injured skin was 40.2 mm2, about 57％ less than that of the control group transfected with blank vectors so that the healing time was shorten by 6 days.The relative concentration of hVEGF mRNA in the skin tissue of rats injected with hVEGF165-transfected cells were 5.15-fold and 4.15-fold bigger compared to that of controls (t =3.385,3.220, P ＜ 0.05) at 3 and 7 d after administration.Conclusions The primary fibroblasts transfected with hVEGF165 gene could efficiently release VEGF to the irradiated skin tissue and promote the recovery of irradiation skin ulcers by shortening the healing time and thus enhanced the therapeutic effect on skin wounds.