The rule of law is the fundamental approach to governance in modern states. The ethical issues arising from deceased organ donation activities have attracted high social attention. In order to ensure that deceased organ donation is in line with the interests and moral standards of the public, it is not enough to provide ethical guidance for the development of the organ donation cause through reflection alone. It is necessary to apply the concept of the rule of law, legal rules and procedural norms to the ethical governance of deceased organ donation. The newly revised "Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation" have established ethical guidelines that organ donation must follow, such as "benefit, do no harm, respect for life, fairness and justice, and compliance with laws and public order", as well as five major principles that must be adhered to in conducting ethical reviews of organ procurement, such as "voluntary and unpaid, informed consent, risk control, fairness and justice, and privacy protection". Faced with the increasing number of deceased organ donation cases and the ethical challenges they pose, it is recommended to establish a "National Human Organ Donation Ethics Committee," clarify the definition and judgment criteria of death from a legal perspective as soon as possible, and create an effective ethical risk monitoring and supervision mechanism. Continuously promote the progress of the organ donation within the legal framework, and effectively safeguard the public interest and basic rights.

Objective To construct a predictive model for the survival of transplant kidneys after kidney transplantation. Methods The clinical data of 366 kidney transplant recipients and donors were retrospectively analyzed, and the recipients were divided into low-risk group (n=101), medium-risk group (n=189), and high-risk group (n=76) based on the kidney donor profile index (KDPI). Each group was further divided into Remuzzi score ≤3 group and Remuzzi score >3 group based on time-zero biopsy Remuzzi scores. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the survival of transplant kidneys. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors affecting long-term survival after kidney transplantation. A predictive model for transplant kidney survival was established and a nomogram was drawn. The predictive performance of the model was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC). Results The median KDPI was 65%, and the median Remuzzi score was 3. The 5-year survival rate of transplant kidneys was 83.5%. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that in the KDPI medium-risk and KDPI high-risk groups, the subgroup with lower Remuzzi score had a higher survival rates of transplant kidneys than the subgroup with higher Remuzzi score. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that KDPI, Remuzzi score, and donor’s age were independent risk factors for transplant kidney loss (all P<0.05). The ROC curve showed that the AUC of the nomogram prediction model established based on independent risk factors for the 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates of transplant kidneys were 0.91, 0.93 and 0.94 for the training set, and 0.89, 0.85 and 0.88 for the validation set. Calibration curves shows good consistency between the training and validation sets of the model. Conclusions The nomogram predictive model based on KDPI, time-zero biopsy Remuzzi score and donor’s age has good predictive value for transplant kidney survival.

Donation after death is the most important ethical principle to carry out organ donation after citizens’ death. The newly-revised Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation does not define death, and avoids the key question of “whether to recognize brain death”. Certain legal risks or damages to the rights and interests of donors may exist in organ donation. Death is an inevitable part of human life. It is necessary to establish specific criteria, which is also the only approach, to define death in any era. Death criteria are established based on the view of death, and restricted by the development level of productive forces and other social factors. The determination of death criteria hugely varies between China and the West. To standardize organ donation and transplantation and promote high-quality development of organ donation, medical staff must adhere to the principle of pure motivation, take informed consents as the premise, respect the donors' and their close relatives' rights to choose their own death criteria, strictly follow the death judgment procedures and operating norms, and ensure the scientificity, accuracy and fairness of death determination.

Fungal keratitis is a serious blinding eye disease. The development of fungal infections depends primarily on the interaction of fungal virulence with host immune defense factors. The cornea is considered an immune-privileged organ, and resident macrophages are the main immune cells that respond to the heterogeneity exhibited by the microenvironment with their polarization. In the early stage of infection, macrophages polarize towards M1, which promotes inflammation and facilitates fungal clearance but produces a cellular storm that exacerbates immune damage; in the late stage of infection, macrophages polarize towards M2, which suppresses the inflammatory response and facilitates tissue repair, but may be immunosuppressed or even immune escape to the detriment of pathogen clearance. The balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses is key to maintaining the functional integrity of the cornea. Current antifungal drug therapy is limited, so it is particularly important to find a therapeutic target for the inflammatory response triggered by the immune response in addition to antifungal therapy. In this review, the functional and phenotypic characterization of macrophage subsets associated with fungal keratitis was reviewed, more in-depth research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms by which macrophage polarization and their impact on fungal keratitis. Targeted regulation of macrophage differentiation based on their phenotype and function could be an effective approach to treat and manage fungal keratitis in the future.

China has made remarkable advances in the field of organ donation and transplantation. However, with surging demands for organ transplantation services, there is still a large gap. Thus the Chinese development of organ donation and transplantation has a lot of catch-ups. The new Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation accorded with domestic conditions, culture and ethics. It specified that organ donation and transplantation should adhere to the general principle of "People Foremost & Life Primary" and strengthen the top-level designs of five operating systems of organ donation, acquisition & distribution, transplant clinical services, transplant quality control and supervising & optimizing. Upholding the protection of the rights and interests of both donors and recipients, it strengthened the supervision of the whole process of organ donation & transplantation, emphasized the importance of publicity & education of organ donation, provided a more solid legal guarantees for standardizing and promoting organ donation & transplantation and ushered in new opportunities for further developments of human organ donation & transplantation.

Vivid and abundant social practice constantly creates new understanding, which will inevitably lead to the emergence of new disciplines. Organ donation discipline is involved with multiple disciplines, such as ethics, law, medicine, sociology and psychology, etc. After entering a new stage of high-quality development, whether it is necessary to establish the discipline of "organ donation" is worthy of discussion. According to the basic standards for establishing a new discipline, groundbreaking achievements in organ donation could lay a solid foundation for the establishment of "organ donation" discipline. However, current conditions for the establishment of "organ donation" are not fully mature, and the process of discipline establishment will absolutely encounter resistance. In the future, the scope and orientation of organ donation should be further elucidated, and a series of measures should be taken, such as establishing independent academic organizations, offering organ donation courses, carrying out special research and innovation, and strengthening international cooperation and exchanges, aiming to promote the establishment of organ donation discipline. The cooperation between academic community and governments is the key to promote the establishment of the discipline of organ donation. Governments will make final decisions by comprehensively considering the investment of resources, development needs of the discipline and the relationship among existing disciplines.

High-quality development is the primary task of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way. Organ donation and transplantation in China are evolving from high-speed growth to high-quality development, which put forward new requirements for the safe, stable and healthy operation of Organ Procurement Organization (OPO). Safety is the foundation and prerequisite for achieving the goal of high-quality development. As an independent and comprehensive department, internal audit should create new achievements in the new era. The department should include OPO and organ donation into the scope of internal audit, shift the emphasis upon the overall development of organ donation. Besides, it should fully consider the actual situation in different places, conduct all-round, objective and fair evaluation, provide evaluation and consulting services for OPO to properly implement organ donation, and give full play to the supervision and prevention role of internal audit.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in kidney transplant recipients(KTRs)and examine the risk factors for severe/critical infection.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted for 208 adult KTRs diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 15, 2022, and March 15, 2023.They were assigned into two groups of mild/ordinary(n=168)and severe/critical(n=40)according to the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Two groups were compared with regards to general profiles, status of baseline vaccination against COVID-19, transplant history, immunosuppressive regimens, comorbidities and treatment outcomes.For continuous variables, t or Mann-Whitney U test was utilized for comparing the inter-group differences.For categorical variables, chi-square or Fisher's exact test was employed.Bonferroni correction was applied for multiple comparisons when p value was ≤0.05.Logistic regression analysis of univariates and multivariates was conducted for identifying the risk factors for severe/critical infections.Results:The rates of hospitalization, severe illness, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and mortality among 208 KTRs with COVID-19 were 27.4%(57/208), 19.2%(40/208), 3.4%(7/208), 5.3%(11/208)and 1.9%(4/208)respectively.Among 57 COVID-19 infected individuals, 43.9%(25/57)experienced bone marrow suppression with an incidence of anemia 36.8%(21/57)and thrombocytopenia 22.8%(13/57). The lowest counts of whole blood lymphocyte, CD4 + T lymphocyte and CD8 + T lymphocyte were 390.0(245.0, 615.0), 138.0(78.0, 293.5)and 180.0(94.7, 575.2)cells/μL respectively.The incidence of bacterial, cytomegaloviral, Pneumocystis jirovecii and other fungal infections after COVID-19 infection was 17.8%(37/208), 3.8%(8/208), 2.9%(6/208)and 2.9%(6/208)respectively.The severe/critical group had a higher incidence of other pathogen infections as compared to mild/ordinary group, including bacterial infections[62.5%(25/40)vs 7.1%(12/168), 95% CI: 47.5%~63.3%, P<0.001], cytomegaloviral infections[15.0%(6/40)vs 1.2%(2/168), 95% CI: 8.1%~19.5%, P=0.001], P.jirovecii infections[15%(6/40)vs 0(0/168), 95% CI: 9.4%~20.6%, P<0.001]and other fungal infections of Candida, Cryptococcus, Malassezia and Aspergillus fumigatus[15.0%(6/40)vs 0(0/168), 95% CI: 9.4%~20.6%, P<0.001]. The incidence of acute kidney injury(AKI)after COVID-19 infection was 13.5%(28/208)and severe/critical group had a higher incidence of AKI than mild/ordinary group[52.5%(21/40)vs 4.2%(7/168), 95% CI: 40.3% to 56.3%, P<0.001]. Univariate analysis showed that age( P=0.003), male gender( P=0.002), smoking history( P=0.012), coronary heart disease( P=0.011), diabetes mellitus( P=0.002), chronic renal insufficiency( P=0.001)and pulmonary disease history( P=0.001)were significantly different between severe/critical and mild/ordinary groups.Multivariate regression analysis revealed that comorbid chronic kidney disease( OR=3.34, 95% CI: 1.46-7.64, P=0.004)and a history of lung disease( OR=3.42, 95% CI: 1.49-7.87, P=0.004)were independent risk factors for severe/critical illness.Baseline vaccination rate against COVID-19 was 17.8%(37/208). Completion of baseline vaccination was associated with a lower risk of severe/critical COVID-19 infection( OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.08-0.98, P=0.047). Conclusions:KTRs with severe/critical COVID-19 infections are more prone to multiple pathogen co-infections and the incidence of kidney function impairment after infection has remained relatively high.Histories of pulmonary and chronic kidney diseases are independent risk factors for severe/critical infections.Completion of baseline vaccination provides protection against severe/critical infections.

With the reform of organ donation and transplantation in China, the establishment of Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) will become more centralized and enlarged in scale, evolving into the united OPO development stage coordinated by multiple hospitals. How to enhance the operation management and scientific development planning of united OPO has become an urgent and novel issue facing the administrators at all levels. At present, certain constraint factors of united OPO still exist in the integrated management, cost control, service homogenization, cultural integration and discipline layout. To give full play to the large-scale benefits and expand the supply of high-quality organ donation services, the development principle of putting connotation construction first and the appropriate direction of public welfare should be upheld. Leading and driving the development of organ donation services of our province are the responsibility, and discipline construction and talent training serve as the core. The overall development plan should be determined in a scientific pattern and homogeneous management should be implemented according to local conditions, aiming to provide successful experience for establishing a provincial unified OPO.

Human organ donation has entered a high-quality development stage in China, which proposes new requirements for the operation and management of Organ Procurement Organization (OPO). Strengthening cost management of OPO contributes to maintaining healthy and sustainable development of organ donation and highlighting the public welfare and social responsibility of OPO. Therefore, in this article, cost management was taken as the breakthrough point and the concept of value chain cost management was introduced to comprehensively analyze the internal and external value activities of OPO from the aspects of excessively high cost hindering the development of organ donation, value chain cost management promoting high-quality development of organ donation and OPO cost management optimization strategies based on value chain theory, aiming to provide reference for lowering internal cost, expanding the range of cost management and improving industry supervision, thereby reasonably controlling the cost of different activities on the organ donation value chain, achieving the goal of restraining excessive increase of organ procurement cost and promoting healthy development of organ donation and transplantation in China.