Objective To explore the association between C-reactive protein/albumin ratio(CAR)and the risk of cardiovascular events in maintenance hemodialysis(MHD)patients.Methods This study enrolled MHD patients who were treated in the blood purification center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between August 2016 to December 2019,and the follow-up deadline was March 31,2021.Collected the clinical data of patients who conform to the inclusion criteria,including demographic,complications,primary basic disease,biochemical indicators of the patients who underwent 3 months regular dialysis treatment and the occurrence of cardiovascular events during the follow-up period.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the probability of cardiovascular incidents in MHD patients.The Cox proportional hazards model based on generalized propensity score weighting(GPSW)was used to estimate the relationship between CAR and cardiovas-cular events in MHD patients.Results A total of 170 eligible objects were included in this study,64 patients with cardiovascular events(37.6%).The Cox proportional hazards model which based on GPSW(HRCAR = 2.087,95%CI:1.085～4.015,P = 0.028),indicated that the hazard ratio of cardiovascular events was 2.087 when the CAR each additional a unit in MHD patients.Conclusion CAR and the risk of cardiovascular events in MHD patients have a significant positive correlation,which can help clinical workers recognize the MHD patients who have high risk of cardiovascular events and intervene in time.

Objective:To explore the incidence and influencing factors of wheezing among children and adolescents aged 3-18 years in 11 cities in China from 2022 to 2023.Methods:From October 2022 to August 2023, 11 cities including Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, Suqian in Jiangsu Province, Chifeng and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Tangshan in Hebei Province, Changzhi in Shanxi Province, Yinchuan in Ningxia Province, Lanzhou and Dingxi in Gansu Province, Linyi in Shandong Province, and Tonghua in Jilin Province were selected as research sites to recruit kindergarten children and primary and secondary school adolescents in local urban areas. A total of 21 959 children and adolescents were included in this study. Demographic information, wheezing data (whether wheezing has occurred in the past and whether wheezing attacks have occurred in the past one year), personal history, family history and other information were collected through questionnaires. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of wheezing attacks in the past one year.Results:The mean age of 21 959 children and adolescents was (12.09±3.65) years old, and 52.3% (11 480) were boys. The incidence of wheezing history was 3.7% (816 cases), and the incidence of wheezing attacks in the past year was 2.5% (556 cases). The multivariate logistic regression model analysis results showed that compared with older age, girls, full-term natural delivery, no allergic rhinitis, no family history of allergic diseases, no passive smoking, partial diet, natural conception and childbirth, the children aged 3-18 years with young age, male, partial diet, passive smoking, family history of allergic diseases, allergic rhinitis, cesarean section, premature birth, and assisted reproduction had a higher risk of wheezing [ OR (95% CI): 0.86(0.84-0.88), 1.27(1.07-1.51), 2.31(1.95-2.75), 2.09(1.76-2.47), 3.5(2.80-4.37), 4.05(3.39-4.83), 1.20(1.02-1.43), 2.26(1.66-3.09), and 1.67(1.01-2.78)]. Conclusion:From 2022 to 2023, the incidence of wheezing among children aged 3-18 years in China is not significantly higher than before, and childhood wheezing may be related to factors such as children′s age, gender, dietary habits, family and personal history of allergic diseases, passive smoking, and perinatal period.

Objective:To construct and validate a nomogram for prediction of in-hospital postoperative heart failure(PHF)in elderly patients with hip fracture.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study.The patients aged ≥65 years undergoing hip fracture surgery in Peking University Third Hospital from July 2015 to December 2023 were enrolled.The patients admitted from July 2015 to December 2021 were divided into a development cohort,and the others admitted from January 2022 to December 2023 in to a validation cohort.The patients'clinical data were collected from the electronic medical record sys-tem.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression were employed to screen the predictors for PHF in the patients.The R software was used to construct a nomogram.Internal and external validation were per-formed by the Bootstrap method.The discriminatory ability of the model was determined by the area un-der the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC).The calibration was evaluated by the calibration plot and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test.Decision curve analysis(DCA)was performed to assess the clinical utility.Results:In the study,944 patients were eventually enrolled in the development co-hort,and 469 were in the validation cohort.A total of 54(5.7％)patients developed PHF in the deve-lopment cohort,and 18(3.8％)patients had PHF in the validation cohort.Compared with those from non-PHF group,the patients from PHF group were older,had higher prevalence of heart disease,hyper-tension and pulmonary disease,had poorer American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA)classification(Ⅲ-Ⅳ),presented with lower preoperative hemoglobin level,lower left ventricular ejection fraction,higher preoperative serum creatinine,received hip arthroplasty and general anesthesia more frequently.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age(OR=1.071,95％CI:1.019-1.127,P=0.008),history of heart disease(OR=5.360,95％CI:2.808-10.234,P＜0.001),preoperative he-moglobin level(OR=0.979,95％CI:0.960-0.999,P=0.041),preoperative serum creatinine(OR=1.007,95％CI:1.001-1.013,P=0.015),hip arthroplasty(OR=2.513,95％CI:1.259-5.019,P=0.009),and general anesthesia(OR=2.024,95％CI:1.053-3.890,P=0.034)were the independent predictors for PHF in elderly patients with hip fracture.Four preoperative predictors were incorporated to construct a preoperative nomogram for PHF in the patients.The AUC values of the nomo-gram in internal and external validation were 0.818(95％CI:0.768-0.868)and 0.873(95％CI:0.805-0.929),indicating its good accuracy.The calibration plots and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test(internal validation:x2=9.958,P=0.354;external validation:x2=5.477,P=0.791)showed its satisfactory calibration.Clinical usefulness of the nomogram was confirmed by decision curve analysis.Conclusion:An easy-to-use nomogram for prediction of in-hospital PHF in elderly patients with hip fracture is well developed.This preoperative risk assessment tool can effectively identify patients at high risk of PHF and may be useful for perioperative management optimization.

Objective:To explore the incidence and influencing factors of wheezing among children and adolescents aged 3-18 years in 11 cities in China from 2022 to 2023.Methods:From October 2022 to August 2023, 11 cities including Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, Suqian in Jiangsu Province, Chifeng and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Tangshan in Hebei Province, Changzhi in Shanxi Province, Yinchuan in Ningxia Province, Lanzhou and Dingxi in Gansu Province, Linyi in Shandong Province, and Tonghua in Jilin Province were selected as research sites to recruit kindergarten children and primary and secondary school adolescents in local urban areas. A total of 21 959 children and adolescents were included in this study. Demographic information, wheezing data (whether wheezing has occurred in the past and whether wheezing attacks have occurred in the past one year), personal history, family history and other information were collected through questionnaires. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of wheezing attacks in the past one year.Results:The mean age of 21 959 children and adolescents was (12.09±3.65) years old, and 52.3% (11 480) were boys. The incidence of wheezing history was 3.7% (816 cases), and the incidence of wheezing attacks in the past year was 2.5% (556 cases). The multivariate logistic regression model analysis results showed that compared with older age, girls, full-term natural delivery, no allergic rhinitis, no family history of allergic diseases, no passive smoking, partial diet, natural conception and childbirth, the children aged 3-18 years with young age, male, partial diet, passive smoking, family history of allergic diseases, allergic rhinitis, cesarean section, premature birth, and assisted reproduction had a higher risk of wheezing [ OR (95% CI): 0.86(0.84-0.88), 1.27(1.07-1.51), 2.31(1.95-2.75), 2.09(1.76-2.47), 3.5(2.80-4.37), 4.05(3.39-4.83), 1.20(1.02-1.43), 2.26(1.66-3.09), and 1.67(1.01-2.78)]. Conclusion:From 2022 to 2023, the incidence of wheezing among children aged 3-18 years in China is not significantly higher than before, and childhood wheezing may be related to factors such as children′s age, gender, dietary habits, family and personal history of allergic diseases, passive smoking, and perinatal period.

Objective To investigate the possible influence of long-term antiviral therapy with entecavir on renal function in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and the sensitive indicators for early identification of renal injury. Methods A cross-sectional real-world study was conducted for the clinical data of 125 CHB patients treated with entecavir for more than 1 year (treatment group) and 44 patients with chronic HBV infection who did not receive antiviral therapy (control group), including the changes in serum creatinine (SCr), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and the levels of urinary α1 microglobulin (α1-MG), β2 microglobulin (β2-MG), and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG). The chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups. The Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate independent influencing factors for abnormal urinary α1-MG, β2-MG, and NAG in the treatment group. Results There were no significant differences in SCr and eGFR between the treatment group and the control group ( t =0.999 and -1.259, P > 0.05), and both indices were within the normal range in these two groups. The treatment group had significantly higher abnormal rates of urinary α1-MG and β2-MG than the control group (47.2%/42.4% vs 13.6%/13.6%, χ 2 =15.693 and 12.567, both P < 0.001), and compared with the control group, the treatment group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with α1-MG or β2-MG > 2×upper limit of normal (18.4%/21.6% vs 2.3%/4.5%, both P < 0.05); however, there were no significant differences between the treatment group and the control group in the abnormal rate of urinary NAG (8.0% vs 6.8%, P > 0.05) and the proportion of patients with urinary NAG > 2×upper limit of normal (8.8% vs 6.8%, P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the treatment group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with abnormalities in two or more indicators for renal tubular injury (33.6% vs 11.4%, χ 2 =8.519, P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between the two groups in the proportion of patients with abnormalities in one indicator (16.0% vs 11.4%, P > 0.05). Conclusion Long-term treatment of CHB with entecavir may be associated with the risk of renal tubular dysfunction, and abnormalities in more than two indicators for renal injury may help to identify renal tubular dysfunction in patients, so as to adjust related treatment in time.

Objective:To explore the significance of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM-2) prognostic evaluation so as to provide novel biological markers in clinical practice for patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure ( HBV-ACLF).Methods:The research subjects of this study were divided into an experimental group and a control group. Fifty HBV-ACLF cases admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 were selected as the experimental group. Patients were divided into survival and death groups according to the actual prognosis at discharge (self-discharge and dead patients were considered death groups, and all enrolled patients were hospitalized for more than 28 days). Twenty-five healthy subjects were chosen as the control group. Peripheral venous blood was collected from the experimental group and the control group. Plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated. The concentrations of TREM-2, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 were detected in the plasma. TREM-2 mRNA expression was detected in PBMC. A single blood sample was collected from the control group, whereas five blood samples were dynamically collected from the experimental group on the day of admittance and at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after treatment commenced. Simultaneously, upon admission, the relevant clinical indicators of HBV-ACLF patients were monitored, including the liver function test: alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, albumin, coagulation function test: international normalized ratio, prothrombin time, and other indicators. Measurement data were expressed as mean±standard deviation (x±s). Count data were compared and analyzed using the χ 2 test. The intra-group factor mean was compared using a repeated measures ANOVA. The means were analyzed by t-tests between the two groups. Bivariate correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the two variables. The value of TREM-2 as a diagnostic marker was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:The mRNA expression of TREM-2 in the PBMC of HBV-ACLF patients showed a gradually increasing trend at various time points and was significantly higher in the survival group than that of the control group at 28 days ( P < 0.01), while the death group showed a gradually weakening trend at various time points and was significantly lower than the control group at 28 days ( P < 0.01). (1) The levels of TREM-2 in the plasma of HBV-ACLF patients generally showed a gradually increasing trend at various time points in the survival group. The levels on the day of admission and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the initiation of treatment were (1.49±0.85), (1.62±0.58), (1.95±0.69), (2.33±0.71), and (2.00±0.67) ng/ml, respectively. The expression of TREM-2 in the death group showed a gradually weakening trend at various time points. The levels on the day of admission and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after initiation of treatment were (1.40±0.73), (1.59±0.79), (1.56±0.80), (1.05±0.49), and (0.81±0.21) ng/ml, respectively. The survival group's various detection time points were higher than those of the death group, and the difference was statistically significant. The plasma level of TREM-2 in the healthy control group was (1.25±0.35) ng/ml. (2) The concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 in the plasma of HBV-ACLF patients showed a gradually decreasing trend at various time points in the survival group. The levels on the day of admission and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after initiation of treatment were (46.70±26.31), (33.98±20.28), (19.07±10.24), (14.76±7.84), (9.12±7.65) and (108.29±47.07), (93.85±26.53), (79.27±34.63), (56.72 ±18.30), (37.81±13.88) pg/ml, respectively. However, its concentration in the death group fluctuated within a relatively high range. The levels on the day of admission and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the initiation of treatment were (41.94±24.19), (36.99±19.78), (34.30±20.62), (34.14±14.52), (36.64±23.61) and (104.65±50.16), (112.98±45.03), (118.43±45.00), (111.67±40.44), (109.55±27.54) pg/ml, respectively. (3) Bivariate correlation analysis results indicated that the plasma TREM-2 content was negatively correlated with the plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 ( r = -0.224, P = 0.025; r = - 0.223, P = 0.026). ROC curve analysis showed that the mRNA levels of TREM-2 in PBMCs at various time points for prognostic evaluation of HBV-ACLF patients were 1d=0.667, 7d=0.757, 14d=0.979, 21d=0.986, and 28d= 0.993. The areas under the ROC curve of the TREM-2 content in the plasma at various time points were 1d=0.522, 7d=0.571, 14d=0.658, 21d=0.927, and 28d=0.994. Conclusion:TREM-2 mRNA expression in PBMC and TREM-2 content in plasma have a significant relationship to the prognosis of HBV-ACLF patients and may inhibit the liver inflammatory response by regulating the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8. Dynamic monitoring of TREM-2 expression in peripheral blood is favorable for evaluating the prognostic condition of HBV-ACLF patients.

Objective To investigate the difference in the prognosis of hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) caused by hepatitis recurrence after withdrawal of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUC) and possible causes in HBeAg-positive versus HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. Methods A total of 108 CHB patients with HBV-ACLF caused by withdrawal of NUC who were admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2017 to December 2018 were enrolled, and according to HBeAg status, these patients were divided into HBeAg-positive group with 57 patients and HBeAg-negative group with 51 patients. The two groups were compared in terms of sex, age, clinical manifestation, signs, levels of total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, and HBV DNA quantification on admission, complications (including hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis), and prognosis of HBV-ACLF. In addition, 48 CHB patients with continuous NUC antiviral therapy for > 2 years and HBV DNA < 20 IU/mL were enrolled, and the serum level of HBV pgRNA was measured to investigate the possible causes of the difference in the prognosis of HBV-ACLF between the patients with different HBeAg statuses. The two-independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data. Results For the 108 patients with HBV-ACLF caused by drug withdrawal and recurrence, the HBeAg-positive group had an improvement rate of 49.1% and the HBeAg-negative group had an improvement rate of 74.5%. The HBeAg-negative group had a significantly higher improvement rate than the HBeAg-positive group ( χ 2 =2.811, P =0.006). The HBeAg-positive group had a significantly higher level of HBV DNA than the HBeAg-negative group on admission ( t =-3.138, P =0.002). For the 48 CHB patients who achieved virologic response after long-term antiviral therapy, the HBeAg-positive group had a significantly higher HBV pgRNA load than the HBeAg-negative group ( H =2.814, P =0.049). Conclusion Compared with the HBeAg-positive CHB patients, HBeAg-negative CHB patients have a significantly better improvement rate of HBV-ACLF caused by hepatitis recurrence after withdrawal of NUC antiviral therapy. The difference in baseline HBV pgRNA level may be associated with the difference in the prognosis of HBV-ACLF in patients with different HBeAg statuses.

Background/Aims: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a catastrophic illness. Few studies investigated the prognostic value of vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related ACLF (HBV-ACLF) resulted in conflicting results. Methods: Two prospective HBV-ACLF cohorts (n=287 and n=119) were enrolled to assess and validate the prognostic performance of VDBP. Results: VDBP levels in the non-survivors were significantly lower than in the survivors (P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that VDBP was an independent prognostic factor for HBV-ACLF. The VDBP level at admission gradually decreased as the number of failed organs increased (P<0.001), and it was closely related to coagulation failure. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of the Child-Pugh-VDBP and chronic liver failuresequential organ failure assessment (CLIF–SOFA)-VDBP scores were significantly higher than those of Child-Pugh (P<0.001) and CLIF-SOFA (P=0.0013). The AUCs of model for end-stage liver disease (MELD)-VDBP were significantly higher than those of MELD (P= 0.0384) only in the case of cirrhotic HBV-ACLF patients. Similar results were validated using an external multicenter HBV-ACLF cohort. By longitudinal observation, the VDBP levels gradually increased in survivors (P=0.026) and gradually decreased in non-survivors (P<0.001). Additionally, the VDBP levels were found to be significantly decreased in the deterioration group (P=0.012) and tended to be decreased in the fluctuation group (P=0.055). In contrast, they showed a significant increase in the improvement group (P=0.036). Conclusions The VDBP was a promising prognostic biomarker for HBV-ACLF. Sequential measurement of circulating VDBP shows value for the monitoring of ACLF progression.

Objective:To screen and identify differentially expressed long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) in peripheral blood of children with sepsis, and to explore the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of sepsis in children.Methods:The peripheral blood samples of 3 children with sepsis admitted to the ICU of Children′s Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January to December 2016 and 3 healthy children who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected, and the differential expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs were screened by lncRNAs sequencing technology.The target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs were predicted and the relationship pairs of lncRNA-mRNA related to F 1F O-ATPase activity were constructed according to the results of GO analysis.Further increasing the sample size, we verified the expression of some F 1F O-ATPase activity-related mRNAs and lncRNAs which were differentially expressed in the screening results by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR). Results:Sequencing results showed that there were 252 lncRNAs with significant differential expression in peripheral blood of children with sepsis compared with healthy children, of which 86 were up-regulated and 166 were down-regulated; meanwhile, there were 2 652 mRNAs with significant differential expression, of which 955 were up-regulated and 1 697 were down-regulated.The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of lncRNA ENST00000621933.1, ENST00000616950.1 and ENST00000595748.1 in peripheral blood of children with sepsis increased( P<0.05), while the expression of MT-ATP8, ATP5E and ENST00000624705.1, ENST00000615535.1 in peripheral blood of children with sepsis decreased( P<0.05), which was consistent with the sequencing results. Conclusion:lncRNAs are differentially expressed in peripheral blood of children with sepsis compared with healthy children.The expression levels of lncRNA ENST00000621933.1, ENST00000616950.1, ENST00000595748.1, ENST00000624705.1 and ENST00000615535.1 which their target genes are MT-ATP8 and ATP5E may be related to the development of sepsis in children.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of asymptomatic carriers with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and to provide clinical guidance for the management of asymptomatic infection with 2019-nCoV.Methods:The clinical data of 663 patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 11 to February 6, 2020 were collected. Patients were divided into asymptomatic group (21 cases) and symptomatic group (642 cases) according to the diagnostic criteria. General conditions, clinical classification, death, chest computed tomograph (CT) and laboratory results of patients were retrospectively collected. Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results:All 663 patients were positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid tests. The age of patients in the asymptomatic group were significantly younger than those in symptomatic group (35.0 (31.5, 58.0) years old vs 58.5 (45.0, 69.0) years old, U=4 234.500, P=0.002). The proportion of patients <30 years old in the two groups was significantly different (19.0%(4/21) vs 6.1%(39/642), Fisher exact test, P=0.047). There were 15 women (71.4%) in the asymptomatic group and 327 women (50.9%) in the symptomatic group, while the difference of gender distributions was not statistically significant ( χ2=3.420, P=0.064). In addition, among patients with asymptomatic infection, the proportions of mild/ordinary, severe and critical patients were 10 cases (47.6%), 10 cases (47.6%), and one case (4.8%), respectively, which were not significantly different from those in symptomatic group (244 cases (38.0%), 305 cases (47.5%) and 93 cases (14.5%), respectively, χ2=1.847, P=0.397). As of February 9, one(4.8%) mild/ordinary patient in the asymptomatic group died who had malignant tumor. Twenty-four (3.7%) patients in the symptomatic group died including two mild/ordinary and 22 critical patients. There was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups(Fisher exact test, P=0.560). CT examination was performed on 594 patients, and 591 cases (99.5%) showed unilateral or bilateral pneumonia, and three cases (0.5%) showed normal. Conclusions:Patients with asymptomatic infection with 2019-nCoV are younger than symptomatic patients, and there are more patients under 30 years old in the asymptomatic group. The absence of clinical symptoms is not significantly associated with clinical classifications and mortality in COVID-19 patients.