Gouty arthritis （GA） is an inflammatory disorder caused by monosodium urate （MSU） crystal deposition， accompanied by elevated oxidative stress and aberrant release of inflammatory cytokines， resulting in joint tissue damage and intense pain. Nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， a key transcription factor regulating the antioxidant defence system， exerts cytoprotective effects through dissociation from Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 （Keap1） and activates downstream antioxidant response element （ARE）-mediated pathways. It can upregulate the expression of heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， NADH quinone oxidoreductase 1 （NQO1）， superoxide dismutase （SOD）， and glutathione transferase （GST） to preserve redox homeostasis. Moreover， Nrf2 can suppress activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3） inflammasomes， reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine production and release， modulate nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） transcriptional activity， regulate gut microbiota balance， enhance mitophagy， and inhibit apoptosis， so as to reduce joint inflammation and pain and promote body recovery. This review systematically examined recent advancements in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） for GA prevention and treatment via regulating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. It delineated Nrf2's molecular mechanisms and its role in GA pathogenesis and elucidated how TCM intervenes in multiple pathways including Keap1/Nrf2/ARE， Nrf2/HO-1（NQO1）， and Nrf2/NF-κB/NLRP3 to exert therapeutic effects. The study demonstrated that TCM monomers and compounds effectively counteract oxidative damage， attenuate inflammatory responses， promote autophagy， and inhibit apoptosis via regulating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. These findings not only clarify the scientific basis of TCM in GA treatment but also offer strategic insights for developing novel Nrf2-targeted anti-gout drugs.

Objective To investigate the efficacy of Amplatzer duct occluder-Ⅱ device(ADO-Ⅱ)in treating ventricular septal detect(VSD)with aortic sinus prolapse(ASP)in child patients.Methods The clinical data of 94 child patients with VSD complicated by ASP,who were admitted to the Hunan Provincial Children's Hospital of China between January 2018 and September 2022,were retrospectively collected.The child patients included 60 males and 34 females with a mean age of(4.7±3.1)years.Mild-moderate ASP was seen in 83 child patients,with a mean(4.12±0.97)mm-sized VSD.Severe ASP was seen in 11 child patients,with a mean(4.95±0.51)mm-sized VSD.Perimembrane VSD was observed in 54 child patients and intracristal VSD in 40 child patients.The relationship of VSD size and degree of ASP to the selection of ADO-Ⅱ,postoperative middle period aortic valve regurgitation and residual leakage was analyzed,so as to clarify the applicability of ADO-Ⅱ to such child patients.Results In the postoperative middle period,6 child patients had mild aortic valve regurgitation,most seen in the child patients who received 4-4 mm or 5-4 mm ADO-occluder;and 10 child patients had residual leakage,mainly seen in the child patients who received 5-4 mm or 6-4 mm occluder.Conclusion In the condition when the ADO-Ⅱ occluder shows satisfactory placement pattern,this treatment is suitable for the child patient having＜6 mm VSD with ASP.Although there are some residual leakage and aortic valve regurgitation after surgery,this interventional therapy still meets the clinical requirements.(J Intervent Radiol,2024,32:17-21)

Objective By simulating acute hypoxic conditions, an experimental model of intestinal stress injury in plateau mice was established to explore the pathogenic mechanism of acute gastrointestinal diseases in plateau, and to lay foundation for preventive and therapeutic measures.MethodsThirty-six SPF-grade adult male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: normoxic 24 h, normoxic 72 h, hypoxic 24 h, and hypoxic 72 h, based on body weight using a randomized numerical table method, with nine mice in each group. Mice in the normoxic group were kept in a conventional barrier environment, while those in the hypoxic group were placed in a hypoxic chamber within the barrier environment with oxygen concentration set at 10% to simulate plateau conditions. They were subjected to stress for 24 h and 72 h, respectively, in order to establish a model of intestinal injury induced by acute hypoxia. After modeling, the mice were weighed, anesthetized with 1% pentobarbital sodium, and then euthanized by cervical dislocation. Duodenal and colonic tissues were collected. Histopathological morphology of intestinal tissues was observed after HE staining. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression levels of tight junction-related proteins in intestinal tissues. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was performed to measure the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. TUNEL staining was used to assess apoptotic activity of intestinal epithelial cells, thus evaluating intestinal injury-related phenotypes in this model.Results Compared with the normoxic groups, mice in the 24 h and 72 h hypoxia groups showed weight loss, shortened duodenal villi, abnormal crypt structure, and decreased villus/crypt ratio. The colonic mucosa was infiltrated with inflammatory cells and irregular crypt structure. Expression levels of Occludin and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) were significantly decreased in duodenal and colonic tissues of mice in the 24 h and 72 h hypoxia groups (P<0.05). The expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax was significantly up-regulated while expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was significantly down-regulated in duodenal tissues (P<0.05). Apoptotic activity of intestinal epithelial cells was significantly enhanced (P<0.05). In addition, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA levels were significantly increased in duodenal tissues after 24 and 72 h of hypoxic stress(P<0.05). After 24 h of hypoxic stress, there was no significant change in the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in colon tissues (P>0.05), but after 72 h, the expression levels of pro-inflammatory factors IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1, and anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 mRNAs significantly increased in colon tissues of mice (P<0.05).Conclusion The usage of a hypoxia chamber to simulate an acute hypoxic environment in plateau can lead to abnormal intestinal tissue structure, intestinal barrier dysfunction, and induce intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis, triggering an intestinal inflammatory response in stress mice. These findings indicate the successful construction of a mouse model for an acute hypoxic stress-induced intestinal injury.

Objective Given that psychosocial stress can contribute to a series of diseases,such as inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome,we aimed to establish an experimental chronic restraint mouse intestinal stress injury model as a basis for exploring the pathogenic mechanism of chronic restraint stress-induced gastrointestinal diseases,and for developing preventive and curative measures.Methods Eighteen male SPF-grade BALB/c mice were acclimatized for 7 days and then divided into a control group and a chronic restraint stress group according to body weight,using a randomized numerical table method.The mice were subjected to restraint stress for 3 hours per day for 14 days to establish an intestinal injury model.The model was evaluated by observing body weight,pathological changes in intestinal histomorphology,expression of tight junction proteins,apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells,and mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines.Results After 14 days of chronic restraint stress,model mice showed weight loss,shortened duodenal villus height,abnormal crypt structure,a decreased villus/crypt ratio,colonic mucosal inflammatory cell infiltration,and irregular crypt structure.Protein immunoblotting,immunohistochemistry,and immunofluorescence staining showed that the expression levels of the duodenal and colonic tight junction proteins Occludin and Claudin-1 were significantly decreased in mice after chronic restraint stress(P＜0.05),while expression levels of the apoptotic protein cleaved-caspase-3 in intestinal epithelial cells were significantly increased(P＜0.05).Regarding the mRNA expression levels of intestinal inflammatory factors and chemokines,chronic restraint stress for 14 days significantly increased the gene expression levels of interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-6,monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1),tumor necrosis factor-α,and IL-10 in the duodenum of mice(P＜0.05),and significantly increased the gene expression levels ofIL-1β,IL-6,and MCP-1 in the colon(P＜0.001).Conclusions The use of a behavioral restriction device to restrain mice continuously for 14 days led to abnormal intestinal tissue structure,intestinal barrier dysfunction,and intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis,and triggered an intestinal inflammatory response in the stressed mice,indicating successful establishment of a mouse model of intestinal injury by chronic restraint stress.

The intestine is the largest immune and metabolic site in the body and is thus important for animal health.The integrity of the mucosal barrier and function are fundamental factors protecting the health of the intestine.Stress has been reported to have profound effects on the gastrointestinal tract,including altering gut permeability,the intestinal barrier,and homeostasis.Tryptophan is a functional essential amino acid that alters the gut microbiota and regulates intestine structural and functional change,thus contributing to host physiology and metabolism.Changes in tryptophan metabolism and its metabolites in brain and intestinal tissues during stress suggest that tryptophan may play an important role in the stress response.We therefore review the literature on the mechanisms underlying stress-related diseases and the role of tryptophan metabolism in the regulation of gut homeostasis,with particular focus on functional bowel disorders and their relationship to stress,to provide a theoretical foundation for targeting tryptophan in stress-related intestine diseases.

Objective:To evaluate the inflammatory factors effects of early endoscopic therapy for elderly patients with acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP) and its clinical efficacys.Methods:206 elderly patients with ABP admitted from Jan. 2010 to Dec. 2019 were divided into observation group (102 cases) and the control group (104 cases) according to treatment method. The observation group received endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) , endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) and endoscopic naso-biliary drainage (ENBD) , while the control group received conventional treatment. Clinical symptoms, changes of inflammatory factors, complications and prognosis were observed in each group.Results:CRP, SAA, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-a after treatment were significantly lowered than those before treatment ( P<0.05) . In addition, the levels of CRP, SAA, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-a in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05) . The time to abdominal pain extinction, time to fever cessation, hospital stay in observation group were (3.92±1.54) , (3.63±1.41) , and (14.35±2.46) d, significantly less than those in the control group [ (5.81±1.72) , (5.45±2.13) , (19.37±3.12) d, P<0.05]. APACHE Ⅱ score of the observation group was (10.02±2.67) point after treatment, significantly lower than that in the control group [ (12.35±3.62) point, t=4.42, P<0.05]. The incidence of complications in the observation group was 10.78% after treatment, significantly lower than that in the control group [ (24.03%) , χ2=6.27, P< 0.05]. The mortality in the observation group was 1.96%, lower than 4.81% in the control group, with no statistical significance. Conclusion:Early endoscopic therapy is safe and highly effective for elderly patients with ABP, with the advantages of shorter hospital stay, quicker subsided inflammation, and lower incidence of complications.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of single flexible ureteroscope vs.flexible ureteroscope combined with intraoperative ultrasonography guided in the endogenous renal cyst incision and drainage.Methods Retrospective analysis of case data of 64 patients with endogenous renal cysts admitted from January 2015 to December 2017.All the patients undrwent contrast-enhanced CT,urinary tract imaging,ultrasound B to confirm bosniak classification Ⅰ and Ⅱ renal cyst.The patients (38 males,26 females) were divided into single flexible ureteroscope group [group A,32 cases of patients,average age (54.2 ±6.6) years,unilateral or bilateral cystic patients:19 cases/ 13cases,simple cyst of kidney or polycystic kidney:24 cases/8 cases,average maximum diameter of the renal cyst (5.4 ± 1.3) cm,combined with renal calculus:8 cases,combined with hydronephrosis:7 cases,1 case who had the history of laparoscopic renal cyst decapitation,1 case who had the history of percutaneous renal cyst puncture] and flexible ureteroscope group combined with intraoperative ultrasonography guided [group B,32 cases of patients,average age (52.3 ± 9.3) years,unilateral or bilateral cystic patients:21 cases/11 cases,simple cyst of kidney or polycystic kidney:25 cases/7 cases.Average maximum diameter of the renal cyst (5.3 ±1.2) cm,combined with renal calculus:9 cases,combined with hydronephrosis:8 cases,2 case who had the history of laparoscopic renal cyst decapitation,1 case who had the history of percutaneous renal cyst puncture].The double J stent was placed two weeks before the surgery into the body of patients.During the operation,the surgical procedure were used by the electronic flexible ureteroscope and holmium laser (0.8 J,20 Hz),combined with ultrasound B in the monitoring,to find the suitable incision position.It would be defined as the successful result if we could put the head of flexible ureteroscope into the inside of renal cyst and see the image of mist in the screen of ultrasound B.According to the standard,the result of operation wound be defined compared to before operation (success:shrink more than 80％ or maximum diameter was smaller than 1 cm;improvement:shrink about 50％-79％;ordinary result:shrink about 30％-49％;failure:shrink smaller than 30％).Effective rate =(success cases + improvement cases)/total cases.We compared the differences of two groups in the time,efficacy,safety and complication of surgery.Results Compared the results of single flexible ureteroscope groups vs flexible ureteroscope group combined with intraoperative ultrasonography guided in the success cases of surgery,after 8-30 months following-up,total operative complication rate was [8 cases(25％)vs.1 case(3.1％)],success rate of operation in 6 month later [(20 cases (62.5％) vs.28 cases (87.5％)].Flexible ureteroscope group combined with intraoperative ultrasonography guided had advantages statistically (P ＜ 0.05).However,there was no statistical difference for the two groups in the time of operation [(33.4 ± 6.7) min vs.(35.1 ± 8.6) min],single operative complication (intraoperative wounding bleeding:3 cases vs.1 case,postoperative urinary infection:3 cases vs.0 case,perinephric space effusion:2 cases vs.0 case,renal function impairment:1 case vs.0 case)(P ＞0.05).Conclusions Flexible ureteroscope combined with intraoperative ultrasonography guided can help the urologist can improve the success rate of surgery and reduce the chance of surgical injury intraoperatively.

Objective To evaluate the evidence and recommendations of the relevant clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of stroke published in the last five years. Methods The stroke and guideline-related key words and free words domestic computer retrieval platforms(China biomedical literature database,CNKI,and Yimaitong etc.),as well as foreign platforms(PubMed,NGC,GIN,etc.) were retrieved.The retrieval time limit ranged from January 2012 to May 2017.Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation Ⅱ(AGREE Ⅱ)was used to assess the quality of the guidelines. Results A total of 9 490 documents were retrieved preliminarily and finally 16 articles were included. The average scoring rates of the 16 guidelines in the 6 fields of AGREE Ⅱ,including the scope and purpose,participants,rigor of the formulation,clarity of expression,applicability,and independence of the editors were 66.3%, 27.4%,23.0%,53.9%,18.8%,and 0%,respectively.The different guidelines all recommend that internal endarterectomy or carotid balloon dilatation and carotid artery stenting are used to extracranial carotid stenosis,while the treatment of vertebral artery stenting is recommended for extracranial vertebral artery stenosis.However,the intravascular interventional therapy is not recommended for intracranial arterial stenosis.The perioperative period of ischemic stroke intravascular intervention need to pay attention to the application of anti-platelet aggregation,anticoagulation,blood pressure,blood glucose,blood lipid management,and postoperative monitoring. For postoperative stent restenosis,especially after vertebral artery stenting,the guidelines recommend using drug-eluting stents,however,the dosage of heparin in intraoperative anticoagulation is still controversial.The intracranial aneurysm guidelines are more recommended for interventional therapy.The cerebral hemorrhage in different regions is recommended for different surgical procedures. Conclusions The guidelines in this field can reflect the key problems in clinical practice and keep up with the international concept.However,the quality of the methodology of the guidelines development needs to be improved. Some of them need to be updated and the recommendations should refer more evidence of the Chinese population.

Objectives To assess treatment outcomes and prognosis in infants with atrial flutter (AFL).Methods Thirty-four (34) cases of infants with AFL in Hunan Children's Hospital had been analyzed for clinical features, treatment outcomes and follow-up between March, 2009 and September, 2015. Based on ECG characteristics, the patients had been divided into simple and complex AFL groups. Based on age, they had been divided into neonates and non-neonates group. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical effects of drug treatment in different types of AFL.Resultsb With digitalis alone, the cardioversion rate was 37.5%,no signiflcant difference was observed between simple and complex AFL groups (45.8% vs 12.5%,P=0.206). Combining with other drugs, the cardioversion rate was 54.5%, which showed signiflcant difference between simple and complex AFL groups (76.9% vs 22.2%,P=0.036). The overall cardioversion rate was 70.6%, which showed signiflcant difference between simple and complex AFL groups(87.5% vs 30%,P=0.003). There was no signiflcant difference in pharmaceutical cardioversion rate between neonates and non-neonates group (85.7% vs 60.0%,P=0.216). Two cases with symptoms of heart failure used synchronized cardioversion. One patient restored to sinus rhythm, and another case was still recurrent of AFL after repeated electrical cardioversion, and eventually died of cardiogenic shock. After treatment, 9 patients were still with paroxysmal AFL and atrial tachycardia episodes, including 3 cases of simple type and 6 cases of complex type who were discharged with oral digoxin and propafenone treatment at home. 24 patients were followed up (3 months to 3 years and 4 months). 16 cases restored to sinus rhythm during hospitalization had no recurrence of AFL.Conclusions The overall treatment effects of AFL in infants were good. In simple type of AFL, most of patients did not need long-term antiarrhythmic drug therapy and the prognosis was good. The prognosis of treatment with conventional drug was poor in complex AFL group, with a higher rate of recurrence of AFL.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of high-frequency electric snare for the treatment of main airway neoplasm through bronchoscopy. Methods The clinical datas of 18 patients from July 2013 to April 2016, who had main airway neoplasm and were treated with high-frequency electric snare through bronchoscopy, were retrospectively analyzed. Meanwhile, the interventional bronchoscopic techniques partly included argon plasma coagulation and cryoablation. After operarion, the relief of symptoms and complications were observed. Results After operarion, the clinical symptoms, shortness of breath, dyspnea index score and the degree of airway stenosis were improved significantly. No serious complications such as massive hemoptysis occurred in all patients. Conclusion High-frequency electric snare is an effective and safe approach for the treatment of main airway neoplasm.