Comprehensive improvement in course teaching quality is an important link in deepening the reform of undergraduate education and teaching. Since 2018, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, has implemented the collective lesson preparation system of "two meetings, seven decisions, and three preparation sessions" for undergraduate clinical courses, thereby effectively implementing subject cooperation, organizational guidance, and resource integration among clinical teachers and determining the key elements of the course through "teaching, learning, and exam preparations" before class. In the process of course operation, the concept of quality control based on plan-do-check-act cycle is deeply integrated with the collective lesson preparation system, and active implementation of the whole-process quality control loop of planning (plan), organization and implementation (do), inspection of results (check), and treatment and improvement (action) has effectively improved the teaching quality of undergraduate clinical courses.

To evaluate the clinical value of targeted next generation sequencing (tNGS) in diagnosing rifampicin and rifabutin resistance in tuberculosis patients. In this retrospective cohort study, 119 culture-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains from tuberculosis patients in Shenzhen Third People′s Hospital from 2020 to 2023 were collected, then tNGS was performed to detect mutations of rpoB gene. Fourteen different types of rpoB gene mutation were detected in 46 mutation MTB strains, including 43 resistance related mutations and 3 synonymous mutations at codon 529. Using the phenotypic drug susceptibility results of rifampicin and rifabutin as the reference standard, the sensitivities of tNGS for detecting resistance to rifampicin and rifabutin were 100%, and the specificities were 96.2% and 89.4% respectively, therefore, tNGS showed good diagnostic performance. Mutations at positions 531 and 526 of rpoB were highly associated with resistance to rifampicin and rifabutin. Moreover, the results of tNGS from the clinical specimens were consistent with those from the corresponding culture strains. tNGS analysis was performed on 83 MTB strains from 18 patients with multiple positive cultures. The results showed that 2 patients with no mutations in the initial MTB strains were subsequently detected with rpoB gene mutation and their phenotypic drug susceptibilities changed from sensitive to resistant. In summary, using tNGS to detect rpoB mutations can reduce false positive results caused by synonymous mutations, and have satisfactory performance for the diagnosis of rifampicin and rifabutin resistance. tNGS can directly detect clinical sputum samples, and also can be used to dynamically monitor the molecular resistance profiles of MTB, therefore it has extremely broad clinical application prospects.

Objective To predict whether antiviral therapy is required in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection and an age of≤30 years by establishing a noninvasive model,and to investigate the diagnostic value of this model.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 175 patients with chronic HBV infection who were admitted to Shenzhen Third People's Hospital from January 2017 to January 2023 and met the inclusion criteria,and according to the results of liver biopsy,they were divided into treatment group with 41 patients(with indications for antiviral therapy)and observation group with 134 patients(without indications for antiviral therapy).The two groups were analyzed in terms of the indicators including clinical data,imaging examinations,and serum biochemical parameters.The univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the parameters affecting the indication for antiviral therapy,and different models for predicting the need for antiviral therapy were constructed based on related parameters.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to compare the diagnostic value of different models.The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous variables between groups,and the Mann-Whitney U rank sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous variables between groups;the chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups.Results There were significant differences between the treatment group and the observation group in alanine aminotransferase,ferritin,total cholesterol(CHOL),triglyceride,platelet count,liver stiffness measured by sound touch elastography(STE),and procollagen Ⅲ N-terminal propeptide(PIIIP)(all P<0.05).The multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that CHOL(odds ratio[OR]=0.4,95％confidence interval[CI]:0.2—1.0),STE(OR=1.5,95％CI:1.0—2.1),and PIIIP(OR=1.1,95％CI:1.0—1.1)were independent predictive factors for the indications for antiviral therapy.Model 1(STE+PIIIP+CHOL),model 2(STE+PIIIP),model 3(STE+CHOL),model 4(PIIIP+CHOL)had an area under the ROC curve of 0.908,0.848,0.725,and 0.725,respectively,while STE,PIIIP,and CHOL used alone had an AUC of 0.836,0.725,and 0.634,respectively,suggesting that model 1 had the largest AUC,with a specificity of 77.34％and a sensitivity of 96.36％,and had a significant difference compared with STE,PIIIP,CHOL,and the models 2,3,and 4(Z=0.21,3.08,3.06,3.23,0.89,and 0.88,all P<0.05).Conclusion The noninvasive model established based on CHOL,STE,and PIIIP has a good value in predicting the need for antiviral therapy in patients with chronic HBV infection and an age of≤30 years.

To evaluate the clinical value of targeted next generation sequencing (tNGS) in diagnosing rifampicin and rifabutin resistance in tuberculosis patients. In this retrospective cohort study, 119 culture-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains from tuberculosis patients in Shenzhen Third People′s Hospital from 2020 to 2023 were collected, then tNGS was performed to detect mutations of rpoB gene. Fourteen different types of rpoB gene mutation were detected in 46 mutation MTB strains, including 43 resistance related mutations and 3 synonymous mutations at codon 529. Using the phenotypic drug susceptibility results of rifampicin and rifabutin as the reference standard, the sensitivities of tNGS for detecting resistance to rifampicin and rifabutin were 100%, and the specificities were 96.2% and 89.4% respectively, therefore, tNGS showed good diagnostic performance. Mutations at positions 531 and 526 of rpoB were highly associated with resistance to rifampicin and rifabutin. Moreover, the results of tNGS from the clinical specimens were consistent with those from the corresponding culture strains. tNGS analysis was performed on 83 MTB strains from 18 patients with multiple positive cultures. The results showed that 2 patients with no mutations in the initial MTB strains were subsequently detected with rpoB gene mutation and their phenotypic drug susceptibilities changed from sensitive to resistant. In summary, using tNGS to detect rpoB mutations can reduce false positive results caused by synonymous mutations, and have satisfactory performance for the diagnosis of rifampicin and rifabutin resistance. tNGS can directly detect clinical sputum samples, and also can be used to dynamically monitor the molecular resistance profiles of MTB, therefore it has extremely broad clinical application prospects.

Objective:To explore the pathogenesis of flunarizine-induced parkinsonism from gut-brain axis perspective.Methods:Thirty male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group and flunarizine group ( n=15). Mice in the control group were given 0.1 mL 50% polyethylene glycol 400+50% saline by gavage once/d for 2 weeks, while mice in the flunarizine group were given 6 mg/mL flunarizine+50% polyethylene glycol 400+50% saline by gavage at a daily dose of 30 mg/kg for 2 weeks. Body mass was recorded 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 d after drug administration, and motor function was assessed by rotarod test 14 d after drug administration; 16s RNA sequencing was performed in the feces to observe the intestinal flora; intestinal transit function was detected by Evans blue by gavage; and then, the mice were sacrificed and homogenate or frozen sections (brain and intestinal tissues) were prepared; dopamine-ergic neuron expression was detected by Western blotting; RT-qPCR was applied to detect the expressions of inflammatory factors in the substantia nigra, and immunofluorescent staining was used to detect the expressions of ZO-1 and Claudin-5 in the intestinal epithelial tissues. Results:Compared with the control group, the flunarizine group had lower body mass ratio 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 d after drug administration (ratio to body mass before drug administration). Compared with the control group, the flunarizine group had significantly shortened residence time in rod rotating and lower rotational speed when falling ( P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the flunarizine group had decreased tyrosine hydroxylase protein in the substantia nigra without significant difference ( P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the flunarizine group had significantly increased interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in the substantia nigra (1.00±0.00 vs. 2.79±0.83; 1.00±0.00 vs. 3.39±1.37), significantly lower intestinal Evans blue propulsion rate (80.67%±4.51% vs. 50.67%±6.03%), and statistically decreased ZO-1 and Claudin-5 expressions in the colonic epithelial tissues (27.01±1.41 vs. 16.32±2.83; 37.00±2.80 vs. 24.52±2.12, P<0.05). Totally, 576 microorganisms were noted in both control group and flunarizine group, 744 in the control group alone, and 634 in the flunarizine group alone. The intestinal flora β diversity indices in the 2 groups were significantly different based on weighted Unifrac-principle coordinates analysis (PCoA, PCoA1: 39.88%; PCoA2: 30.69%). Compared with the control group, the microbial colony structure of mice in flunarizine group was dominated by phylum thick-walled bacteria and phylum warty microbacteria, and by families Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Akkermansiaceae. Compared with the control group, the flunarizine group had significantly decreased relative abundance of Ackermannia spp. and Lactobacillus spp. in the intestinal flora ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Flunarizine may contribute to the pathogenesis of DIP by causing structural disturbances in the intestinal flora and inducing neuroinflammation based on the gut-brain axis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique for the verification of the clonalities of non-clonal cytogenetic abnormalities (n-CCA) identified by conventional chromosome banding analysis (CBA) in patients with Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). METHODS: Clinical data and results of karyotyping and FISH assays for 91 patients of MDS with n-CCA identified by CBA were retrospectively analyzed. In total 94 non-clonal +8, 5q-, -7/7q- or 20q- were detected by CBA, among which 43 (45.7%) were verified to be clonal abnormalities by FISH. RESULTS: The detection rates for +8, 5q-, -7/7q- and 20q- by FISH were 47.6% (30/63), 25% (2/8), 41.7% (5/12), 40% (2/5) and 66.7% (4/6), respectively, with the positive cells accounting for 4% to 90% of all counted cells, with a median value of 7%. The 91 patients were divided into three groups including ≥ 20, 10 ~< 20 and < 10 based on the numbers of metaphase cells in CBA, and the detection rates by FISH for the three groups were 43.7% (31/71), 33.3% (3/9) and 63.6% (7/11), respectively, which showed no statistically difference (P > 0.05). Continuous CBA and FISH surveys were conducted for 26 patients who received supportive treatment, and the results revealed that 91.7% (11/12) of FISH-verified positive abnormalities had persisted, whereas 92.9% (13/14) of the n-CCA verified as negative by FISH was transient. CONCLUSION Nearly half of the CBA identified n-CCA have been verified as clonal aberrations by FISH, and the FISH detection rate showed no correlation with the number of metaphase cells. FISH test is strongly recommended for verifying the clonalities of n-CCA detected by CBA, and continuous cytogenetic survey of the patients with MDS is necessary.
Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Retrospective Studies ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Karyotyping ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes/genetics*

Sarcopenia is an age-related disease that mainly involves decreases in muscle mass, muscle strength and muscle function. At the same time, the body fat content increases with aging, especially the visceral fat content. Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that secretes biologically active factors called adipokines, which act on local and distant tissues. Studies have revealed that some adipokines exert regulatory effects on muscle, such as higher serum leptin levels causing a decrease in muscle function and adiponectin inhibits the transcriptional activity of Forkhead box O3 (FoxO3) by activating peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor-γ coactivator -1α (PGC-1α) and sensitizing cells to insulin, thereby repressing atrophy-related genes (atrogin-1 and muscle RING finger 1 [MuRF1]) to prevent the loss of muscle mass. Here, we describe the effects on muscle of adipokines produced by adipose tissue, such as leptin, adiponectin, resistin, mucin and lipocalin-2, and discuss the importance of these adipokines for understanding the development of sarcopenia.
Humans ; Adipokines ; Leptin ; Adiponectin ; Sarcopenia ; Muscles

Background/Aims: The accuracy of endosonographers in diagnosing gastric subepithelial lesions (SELs) using endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is influenced by experience and subjectivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) has achieved remarkable development in this field. This study aimed to develop an AI-based EUS diagnostic model for the diagnosis of SELs, and evaluated its efficacy with external validation. Methods: We developed the EUS-AI model with ResNeSt50 using EUS images from two hospitals to predict the histopathology of the gastric SELs originating from muscularis propria. The diagnostic performance of the model was also validated using EUS images obtained from four other hospitals. Results: A total of 2,057 images from 367 patients (375 SELs) were chosen to build the models, and 914 images from 106 patients (108 SELs) were chosen for external validation. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the model for differentiating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and non-GISTs in the external validation sets by images were 82.01%, 68.22%, 86.77%, 59.86%, and 78.12%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy in the external validation set by tumors were 83.75%, 71.43%, 89.33%, 60.61%, and 80.56%, respectively. The EUS-AI model showed better performance (especially specificity) than some endosonographers.The model helped improve the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of certain endosonographers. Conclusions We developed an EUS-AI model to classify gastric SELs originating from muscularis propria into GISTs and non-GISTs with good accuracy. The model may help improve the diagnostic performance of endosonographers. Further work is required to develop a multi-modal EUS-AI system.

Objective:To investigate the expression of SET-NUP214 fusion gene in hematological malignancies and to analyze its related clinical biological characteristics.Methods:The clinical data of 24 patients with SET-NUP214 fusion gene-positive hematological malignancies were retrospectively analyzed, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis.Results:Among the 24 patients with SET-NUP214 fusion gene, 15 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (13 cases of T-ALL and 2 cases of B-ALL) , 7 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) , and 2 cases of T/myeloid mixed acute leukemia have been identified. The immunophenotype of 13 cases of T-ALL was mainly characterized by CD3 +CD2 -, 73.3% of ALL was characterized by myeloid marker expression, and 85.7% of AML was characterized by CD7 expression. Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 22 patients (91.7%) after induction chemotherapy. All 24 patients received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) . With a median follow-up of 24 months, the 3-year relapse free survival (RFS) of AML and ALL was 85.7% and 33.3%, respectively ( P=0.128) . Comparing 13 cases of SET-NUP214-positive and 62 cases of SET-NUP214-negative T-ALL, the CR rates of induction chemotherapy were 92.3% and 93.5% ( P=0.445) , and the 4-week CR rates of induction chemotherapy were 69.2% and 72.6%, respectively ( P=0.187) ; the differences were not statistically significant. After HSCT, the 3-year RFS of SET-NUP214 +T-ALL and SET-NUP214 -T-ALL was 38.5% and 66.4%, respectively ( P=0.028) , and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion:The SET-NUP214 fusion gene is mainly detected in T cell-derived hematological malignancies, and the prognosis of SET-NUP214 positive T-ALL is relatively poor.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between clinical parameters related to acute bacterial dysentery and other infectious diarrhea in adults. Methods: From April to October 2018, 70 patients with clinical diagnosis of acute bacterial dysentery, 180 patients with clinical diagnosis of infectious diarrhea and 399 patients with diarrhea to be examined were investigated retrospectively. The collected data included gender, age, time from onset to treatment, maximum body temperature, main symptoms, epidemiological history, blood routine, C-reactive protein and stool routine. Analysis of these clinical factors related to acute bacterial dysentery and other infectious diarrhea. Results: A total of 70 patients with acute bacterial dysentery, 180 patients with other infectious diarrhea and 399 patients with diarrhea of unknown origin were investigated. The positive rate of epidemiology in the three groups was statistically significant (P<0.05); the age of onset of bacterial dysentery was younger than that in patients with diarrhea of unknown origin (P<0.05). Compared with the other two groups of patients, the onset to visit time was earlier, the number of vomiting was higher, the incidence of fever and tenesmus was higher, and the levels of white blood cells, neutrophils and C-reactive protein were significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusions Patients with acute bacterial dysentery, other infectious diarrhea, and diarrhea of unknown origin have some differences in epidemiological history, age at onset, clinical manifestations, and laboratory tests.