In the context of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by dysregulated lipid metabolism in hepatocytes, the quest for safe and effective therapeutics targeting lipid metabolism has gained paramount importance. Sanhuang Xiexin Tang (SXT) and Baihu Tang (BHT) have emerged as prominent candidates for treating metabolic disorders. SXT combined with BHT plus Cangzhu (SBC) has been used clinically for Weihuochisheng obese patients. This retrospective analysis focused on assessing the anti-obesity effects of SBC in Weihuochisheng obese patients. We observed significant reductions in body weight and hepatic lipid content among obese patients following SBC treatment. To gain further insights, we investigated the effects and underlying mechanisms of SBC in HFD-fed mice. The results demonstrated that SBC treatment mitigated body weight gain and hepatic lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. Pharmacological network analysis suggested that SBC may affect lipid metabolism, mitochondria, inflammation, and apoptosis-a hypothesis supported by the hepatic transcriptomic analysis in HFD-fed mice treated with SBC. Notably, SBC treatment was associated with enhanced hepatic mitochondrial biogenesis and the inhibition of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/NF-κB pathways. In conclusion, SBC treatment alleviates NAFLD in both obese patients and mouse models by improving lipid metabolism, potentially through enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis. These effects, in turn, ameliorate inflammation in hepatocytes.
Humans ; Mice ; Animals ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/metabolism* ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; Organelle Biogenesis ; Retrospective Studies ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Obesity/metabolism* ; Liver ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Body Weight ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipids ; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects*

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of serum D-dimer combined with myocardial injury markers on admission for early identification of high-risk patients with acute myocarditis.Methods:Patients hospitalized for acute myocarditis in China-Japan Friendship Hospital were retrospectively enrolled from 2010 to 2021. Patients were divided into the high D-dimer level group and low D-dimer level group according to the median value of D-dimer measured by immunoturbidimetry within 24 h of admission. In-hospital adverse events were defined as death, cardiogenic shock, malignant ventricular arrhythmia and new-onset heart failure. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to explore the independent predictors of in-hospital adverse events, and receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the predictive value.Results:A total of 106 patients were analyzed, including 52 high level D-dimer patients and 54 low level D-dimer patients, with an average age of (36±16) years, and 62.3% were male. Compared with the low D-dimer level group, patients in the high D-dimer level group had lower mean systolic blood pressure [(114±21) mmHg vs. (121±14) mmHg] and diastolic blood pressure [(71±13) mmHg vs. (76±10) mmHg], higher heart rate [(97±26) beats/min vs. (79±15) beats/min], higher C-reactive protein levels [6.82 (1.61, 20.05) mg/dL vs. 1.30 (0.13, 8.93) mg/dL] and creatinine levels [86.95 (67.63, 117.83) μmol/L vs. 68.80 (60.18, 81.93) μmol/L] on admission. The proportion of patients having QRS interval >120 ms on electrocardiogram was higher in high D-dimer level group (25.0% vs. 7.4%). There was no significant difference in patients with positive myocardial injury biomarkers between the two groups. The incidence of in-hospital adverse events was higher in the high D-dimer level group (67.3% vs. 22.2%, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that serum D-dimer levels and elevated myocardial injury markers on admission were independently associated with in-hospital adverse events. The area under the curve (AUC) of elevated serum D-dimer level on admission for predicting in-hospital adverse events was 0.781 (95% CI: 0.690-0.873), the sensitivity was 74.5%, and the specificity was 71.2%. When combined with positive cardiac biomarkers, the AUC was 0.831 (95% CI: 0.752-0.910) with a sensitivity of 80.9% and a specificity of 78.0%. Conclusions:Elevated D-dimer level on admission can predict the risk of in-hospital adverse events in patients with acute myocarditis. The combination of cardiac injury biomarkers can improve the predictive value.

Objective:To analyze the clinical features of patients with severe dengue (SD) in Guangdong Province, and to improve the understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of SD in China.Methods:The clinical data, laboratory examination and etiological test results of 257 SD cases from 29 dengue fever designated hospitals in Guangdong Province from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2019 were respectively collected. The relevant indicators of the criteria for severe organ involvement were quantified. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors for the development of multiple organ failure in SD patients.Results:Among the 257 SD patients, age was (64.1±20.1) years old, with 65.4%(168/257) of them ≥60 years old, 142 were male and 115 were female. One hundred and fifty-two (59.1%) patients had underlying conditions, including 115(44.7%) patients with hypertension. The clinical manifestations were mainly fever (98.4%(253/257)), fatigue (70.0%(180/257)), cough or expectoration (44.4%(114/257)), lethargy or irritability (39.3%(101/257)), vomiting (30.4%(78/257)), abdominal pain or tenderness (20.6%(53/257)), hepatomegaly (2.3%(6/257)), bleeding tendency (59.5%(153/257)), and pleural effusion or ascites (43.6%(112/257)). Platelet count levels were decreased in 90.9%(231/254) of the cases, and 97.1%(234/241) of patients had normal or decreased hematocrit. The most common of severe manifestations were severe organ involvement (61.1%(157/257)), followed by severe bleeding (37.0%(95/257)) and severe plasma leakage (30.0%(77/257)). Severe organ involvements were more common in the kidney (27.6%(71/257)) and heart (26.8%(69/257)). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (odds ratio ( OR)=1.051, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.004 to 1.100, P=0.035), hypertension ( OR=5.224, 95% CI 1.272 to 21.462, P=0.022), elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level ( OR=1.002, 95% CI 1.001 to 1.003, P=0.001), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) ( OR=1.050, 95% CI 1.005 to 1.098, P=0.030), and international normalized ratio (INR) ( OR=4.604, 95% CI 1.601 to 13.238, P=0.005) were risk factors for the development of multiple organ failure in SD patients. The detection results of serum samples form 113 SD patients in acute phase showed that dengue virus (DENV)-1 accounted for 89.4%(101/113), DENV-2 accounted for 9.7%(11/113), and DENV-3 accounted for 0.9% (1/113). Conclusions:Elderly and those with co-existing conditions such as hypertension in SD patients in Guangdong Province are more common. Severe organ involvement such as kidney and heart is the main cause of SD. DENV-1 infection is predominant. Significant elevated levels of AST, BUN and INR may be related to a poor prognosis.

Objective:To explore the accuracy of mpMRI combined with Partin table, MSKCC nomogram and CAPRA score in predicting extracapsular extension and seminal vesicle invasion of prostate cancer.Methods:From January 2016 to June 2021, a total of 178 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy were selected. The average age of patients was (68.3±3.5) years, the average preoperative PSA level was (24.5±7.1)ng/ml, and the average percentage of positive cores in biopsy was 44.3%. The clinical T 1c stage was determined in 67 cases (37.6%), T 2a in 69 cases (38.8%) and T 2b-2c in 42 cases(23.6%). Biopsy Gleason score of 3+ 3=6 was found in 45 cases(25.3%), 3+ 4=7 in 41 cases(23.0%), 4+ 3=7 in 26 cases(14.6%), 8 with different combinations in 36 cases(20.2%), and 9 or 10 in 30 cases(16.9%). According to preoperative PSA level, biopsy Gleason score, clinical stage, age, total biopsy cores and positive cores, the posibility of extracapsular extension and seminal vesicle invasion were predicted using 2012-version Partin table and MSKCC nomogram. CAPRA score of each patient was calculated. The prediction schemes were built as follows: ①mpMRI alone, ②mpMRI combined with Partin scale, ③mpMRI combined with MSKCC nomogram, ④mpMRI combined with CAPRA score. The results of each prediction scheme were compared with postoperative pathological reports. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between predictive results and postoperative pathological outcomes. The receiver operating characteristic curve of each prediction scheme was drawn. The area under curve was used to compare the predictive accuracy of each combination scheme for the pathological results of prostate cancer. The decision analysis curve of each prediction scheme was drawn. The clinical benefits of each scheme were analyzed by comparing the net return under different risk thresholds. Results:mpMRI predicted extracapsular extension in 21 cases(11.8%) and seminal vesicle invasion in 16 cases(9.0%). The postoperative pathological results reported extracapsular extension in 27 cases(15.2%) and seminal vesicle invasion in 39 cases(21.9%). Logistic regression analysis showed that mpMRI and clinical scales were predictors related to the pathological results of prostate cancer( P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve of each scheme showed that the area under curve for predicting extracapsular extension by using mpMRI, mpMRI combined with Partin table, mpMRI combined with MSKCC nomogram and mpMRI combined with CAPRA score were 0.599, 0.652, 0.763 and 0.780, respectively, and the area under curve for predicting seminal vesicle invasion were 0.607, 0.817, 0.826 and 0.820, respectively. Compared with simple application of mpMRI, except that the scheme of mpMRI combined with Partin table had no obvious advantage in predicting extracapsular extension( P=0.117), any other combined scheme had higher prediction accuracy( P<0.01). mpMRI combined with MSKCC nomogram or CAPRA score was better than mpMRI combined with Partin table in predicting extracapsular invasion ( P<0.01). There was no significant difference in predicting seminal vesicle invasion among these three combination schemes ( P>0.05). The net income of the combined prediction scheme was higher than that of using mpMRI alone under any risk threshold. The scheme of using mpMRI combined with MSKCC nomogram had the highest net income. Conclusions:mpMRI combined with clinical scales has good accuracy in predicting pathological characteristics of prostate cancer in Chinese population. Compared with other schemes in this study, the combination scheme of mpMRI combined with MSKCC nomogram has the highest prediction accuracy.

Background and aim:Real-world data on the effectiveness and safety of treatment with the direct-acting antiviral agent-based regimen are limited on the Chinese mainland.The aim of this study was to conduct a multicenter,prospective,real-world study of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir(OBT/PTV/r)combined with dasabuvir(DSV)in hepatitis C virus(HCV)genotype 1b-infected non-cirrhotic or compensated cirrhotic Chinese adult patients. Materials and methods:Genotype 1b-infected patients were enrolled at eight sites in China.Patients received 25/150/100 mg of OBT/PTV/r once daily combined with 250 mg of DSV twice daily for 8 weeks or 12 weeks.Sustained virological response at 12 weeks post-treatment(SVR12)and the incidence of adverse events were assessed.We have also evaluated the effect of intensive questioning of patients who were overdue for SVR12 testing.Intention-to-treat(1TT)and modified 1TT(mITT)populations were used in the analysis. Results:One hundred forty patients were included,among whom 90.0％(126/140)were newly diag-nosed,9.3％(13/140)had compensated cirrhosis,92.9％(130/140)received 12 weeks of treatment,and 7.1％(10/140)received 8 weeks of treatment.In the mITT population,the virological response rate at week 4 was 96.4％(108/112),and at the end of treatment was 100％(102/102).Among these patients,139 patients completed 12 weeks of treatment,and 73 patients were followed-up.All followed-up patients achieved SVR12.There was no adverse event-related discontinuation.Serious adverse events during treatment were reported in two(1.4％)patients,and none were considered to be drug-related.Sixty-six(47.1％)patients did not return to receive the HCV RNA test at 12 weeks post-treatment. Conclusions:The rate of SVR12 was consistent with Phase Ⅲ clinical studies.OBT/PTV/r combined with DSV showed effectiveness in Chinese adult patients,and both tolerability and safety profile were favorable.However,patient compliance should be further improved in the real world.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological and clinical features of brucellosis in Foshan.Methods The epidemiological history,clinical manifestations,laboratory tests,treatment and outcomes of 41 patients with brucellosis from 2013 to 2016 in the First People's Hospital of Foshan were retrospectively analyzed.Results Brucellosis onsets occurred mainly from February to June [85.4％ (35/41)],and 58.5％ (24/41) of them had positive epidemic history.Irregular fever,rachialgia/arthralgia,fatigue and hepatosplenomegaly occurred in 29 (70.7％),20 (48.8％),19 (46.3％) and 16 (39.0％) of the patients,respectively.The C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) of patients infected with Brucella only was lower than that in patients infected also with other bacteria (26.72 vs 50.87 mg/L,Z =-2.300,P ＜ 0.05),but no significant difference of white blood cell counts (5.77 × 109/L vs 5.83 × 109/L),neutrophil (3.50 × 109/L vs 3.84 × 109/L) and procalcitonin (PCT,0.10 vs 0.14 μg/L) between the two groups were observed.The patients with positive epidemic history had lower white blood cell,neutrophil and monocyte counts than those who did not had epidemic history (4.73 × 109/Lvs 7.28 × 109/L,2.73 × 109/L vs 4.79 × 109/L,and 0.36 × 109/L vs 0.64 × 109/L;F =9.486,10.130,9.785,P ＜ 0.05).And no significant difference of lymphocyte counts,hs-CRP and PCT between the two groups were observed (1.57 × 109/L vs 1.73 × 109/L,29.30 vs 35.76 mg/L,and 0.15 vs 0.09 μg/L;P ＞ 0.05).All the cases were infected by Brucella melitensis,and 33 of them were sensitive to general antibiotics in vitro.There were 40 cases discharged after treatment,and 34 cases still needed to increase antibiotic treatment courses.Most patients had good outcomes.Conclusions In Foshan,patients with irregular fever and rachialgia or arthralgia,and no significantly increased inflammation index,should be aware of brucellosis.We should strengthen the screening of brucellosis in Foshan.

OBJECTIVETo perform a prospective,multicenter,open,randomized study to determine a treatment regimen for treatment-naive patients with refractory chronic hepatitis C (RHC) using the predictive value (PV) of early virological response (EVR).

METHODSA total of 438 patients from 18 hospitals were recruited between December 2008 and December 2010 and administered peg-interferon/ribavirin treatment for 12 weeks. Patients who achieved complete EVR (cEVR) were assigned to group A for a 48-week course of treatment, while patients without cEVR were randomly allocated to either group B 1 for a 72-week course of treatment or to group B2 for a 96-week course of treatment. Serum hepatitis C virus RNA levels at baseline,treatment weeks 4, 12 and 24, end of treatment, and post-treatment week 24 were measured and used to evaluate the efficiency of therapy.

RESULTSThe overall sustained virological response (SVR) rate was 85.1%. In all, 91.0% of patients achieved cEVR and were assigned to group A, which had an SVR rate of 90.8%. There was no statistically significant difference in the SVR rates of groups B1 and B2 (29.4% vs. 25.0%, P more than 0.05). The positive PV of rapid virological response (RVR), cEVR and delayed virological response (DVR) for SVR was 93.4%, 90.8% and 77.8% respectively, and the negative PV of RVR, EVR and DVR for SVR was 28.0%, 93.3% and 100% respectively. Overall, 66.9% of the patients experienced adverse events (AEs), but only 1.9% of patients experienced sevcre AEs.

CONCLUSIONThe majority of Chinese RHC treatmentna(i)ve patients (91.0%) can achieve cEVR and a high SVR rate with a low rate of severe AEs using the cEVR guided personal treatment regimen.

Objective To explore the association between SLC2A9,SLC17A3,ABCG2 single nucleotide polymorphisms and gout susceptibility in Quanzhou.Methods One hundred and fifty-four cases of gout patients and 160 healthy controls were selected,single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of SLC2A9 SLC17A3,ABCG2 with tri-primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were tested and the relation between different genotypes and primary gout prevalence were analyzed.Results High risk genotype frequency of rs16890979 was 93.5％ and 70.0％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (the difference of genotype frequency between the two groups was statistically significant (x2=55.377,P＜0.01).High risk allele frequency was 79.9％ and 48.4％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (allele frequency in different population was statistically significant,x2=67.128,P＜0.01).High risk genotype frequency of rs2231142 was 68.8％ and 38.7％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (the difference of the genotype frequency was statistically significant,x2=29.129,P＜0.01);High risk allele frequency was 43.5％ and 23.4％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (the difference of allele frequency was statistically significant,x2=28.468,P＜0.01) ; rs1165205was a protective SNP,low risk genotype frequency was 42.2％ and 45.6％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (the difference of genotype frequency was statistically significant,x2=0.373,P=0.571); High risk allele frequency was 26.0％ and 28.1％ in patients and healthy people,respectively (the difference of allele frequency was not statistically significant,x2=0.270,P=0.364).Conclusion SNP loci rs16890979 of SLC2A9 gene and rs2231142 of ABCG2 gene can be used as genetic markers for primary gout susceptibility in the Quanzhou area,but SNP loci rs1165205 of SLC17A3 gene has little correlation with the prevalence of primary gout in Quanzhou residents.

Objective To estimate the relationship between T helper 17 (Th17) cell-mediated inflammatory damage and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods Serum interleukin (IL)-17A levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 102 patients with SLE and 68 normal human controls.Real time-quantitative PCR was used to quantify the expression levels of RORγt mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 27 patients with SLE and 13 normal human controls.Linear regression analysis and Spearman correlation analysis were conducted to assess the relationship of serum IL-17A levels with RORγt mRNA expression,SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI),and the concurrence of renal damage.Results There was a significant increase in serum IL-17A levels and RORγt mRNA expression in patients with SLE compared with the normal controls [ 14.75 (5.12 - 69.76) vs.5.77 (2.22 - 9.60) ng/L,P ＜ 0.01; 1 (0.40 - 2.62)vs.0.19 (0.15 - 0.75 ),P ＜ 0.01 ].The serum levels of IL-17A in patients with SLE were positively correlated with the levels of serum C-reactive protein,plasma creatinine and prevalence of urinary cast (r =0.33,P ＜ 0.01; r =0.26,P ＜ 0.05; r =0.27,P ＜ 0.05),but unrelated to SLEDAI (P ＞ 0.05).The mRNA expression level of RORγt was positively correlated with serum IL-17A levels (r =0.47,P ＜ 0.01),but negatively correlated with serum C3 levels in patients with SLE(r =-0.46,P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the levels of serum IL-17A or RORγt mRNA expression between patients with highly and lowly active SLE or between patients with and without renal damage (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Th17 cell-mediated inflammatory damage may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE,and associated with renal damage,but is unlikely the only factor affecting the activity of SLE or predominant factor in the pathogenesis of SLE and concurrent renal damage.

ObjectiveTo investigate the role of Thl7 cells in the pathogenesis of SLE patients with cardiac involvement,and to understand the value of cardiac markers in SLE patients with cardiac involvement.MethodsSerum IL-17A levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 47 SLE patients with cardiac involvement (group Ⅰ ),55 SLE patients without cardiac involvement (group Ⅱ ) and 38 healthy controls(group Ⅲ ).The ADVIA Centaur(R)-XP immunoassay analysis system and Olympus AU2700 automatic biochemical system were used to measure cardiac markers.Then real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measureRORγt mRNA in 13 SLE patients with cardiac involvement,14 SLE patients without cardiac involvement and 13 healthy controls.Kruskal-Wallis test,Mann-Whitney U test,F test and Spearman correlation were used for statistical analysis.Results① Serum levels of IL-17A were markedly increased in group Ⅰ than group Ⅱ and Ⅲ [27.98 (8.44-138.81) vs 11.12 (3.64-22.30) vs 5.77 (2.22-9.60) pg/ml,both P＜0.05].② Serum levels of BNP were significantly higher in group Ⅰ than group Ⅱ and Ⅲ [49(13.50-107.50) vs 17(9-26) vs 7.50(4.75-13) pg/ml,both P＜0.01 ].③ Age,course,SLEDAI were significantly higher in group Ⅰ SLE patients than group Ⅱ (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05).④ The level of RORγt mRNA were significantly elevated in group Ⅰ compared to group Ⅱ and Ⅲ [2.2(0.79-2.83) vs 0.72(0.39-1.14) vs 0.19(0.15-0.75),P＜0.05].Conclusion① Th17 cells may contribute to the inflammation of heart in SLE.② The older age,longer course and higher disease activity of SLE patients are risk factors for cardiac involvement in SLE.③ Serum BNP may be a useful indicator in SLE patients with heart involvement.