Objective To explore the differences of total bile acid in carotid atherosclerosis(CAS)patients with different traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)constitution.Methods CAS patients who were treated in Tai'an Municipal Hospital from December 2022 to May 2023 were selected,clinical data of patients were collected and TCM constitution was identified,and differences in serum total bile acid among patients with different TCM constitutions were analyzed.Results A total of 212 CAS patients were included,including 151 patients with biased constitution.The top 3 biased constitution included yang-deficiency constitution(49 cases,23.1％),qi-depression constitution(25 cases,11.8％),blood-stasis constitution(19 cases,9.0％).The body mass index of patients with yin-deficiency constitution was significantly lower than that of other patients(P＜0.05).The total bile acid level of patients with yang-deficiency constitution was significantly higher than that of patients with normal constitution,qi-depression constitution,blood-stasis constitution,phlegm-dampness constitution,humid heat constitution(P＜0.05).Conclusion There are differences of total bile acid in CAS patients with different TCM constitution,and yang-deficiency constitution is closely related to total bile acid metabolism.

Objective:Bacterial liver abscess is one of the common infectious diseases of the digestive system.Invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess syndrome(IKLAS)refers to cases where,in addition to liver abscess,there are migratory infections foci or other invasive manifestations.The clinical characteristics and risk factors of IKLAS are not fully elucidated,and there is a lack of research on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different treatment methods.This study aims to compare the clinical characteristics of patients with IKLAS and non-IKLAS,and explore effective and economical treatment methods. Methods:This retrospective study collected medical records of patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess treated at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2010 to December 2023.A total of 201 patients were included,dividing into an IKLAS group(n=37)and a non-IKLAS group(n=164).Differences in demographics,symptoms and signs,laboratory indicators,imaging characteristics,comorbidities,treatment methods,treatment outcomes,and direct treatment costs between 2 groups were analyzed.The study also compared the effectiveness and costs of different treatment methods. Results:Compared with the non-IKLAS group,the proportion of patients with diabetes,Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment(qSOFA)≥2,immune deficiency,anemia,and thrombocytopenia in the IKLAS group was higher,and the level of procalcitonin at the onset in the IKLAS group was also higher(all P<0.05).In terms of symptoms and signs,the IKLAS group had a higher proportion of visual abnormalities and a lower proportion of complaints of abdominal pain(both P<0.05).In terms of complications,the incidence of combined pleural effusion,pulmonary infection,acute renal failure,respiratory failure,and multiple organ failure was higher in the IKLAS group(all P<0.05).The IKLAS group had a higher proportion of patients treated with antibiotics alone(24.32%vs 11.59%),while the non-IKLAS group had a higher proportion of patients treated with antibiotics combined with puncture and drainage(86.59%vs 64.86%,both P<0.05).The overall effective rate of the IKLAS group(83.78%)was lower than that of the non-IKLAS group(95.73%),and the treatment and drug costs were higher(all P<0.05).The treatment method of antibiotics combined with surgical resection of infectious foci showed a 100%improvement rate,antibiotics combined with abscess puncture and drainage had an 84.9%improvement rate,and in antibiotics alone had an 82.1%improvement rate,with statistical differences among the 3 treatment methods(P<0.05).In terms of treatment costs,antibiotics alone were the most expensive(P<0.05). Conclusion:Patients with IKLAS have poorer prognosis and higher direct medical costs.The combination of abscess puncture and drainage or surgery has a higher improvement rate and lower hospitalization costs compared to antibiotics alone,suggesting that surgical intervention may reduce antibiotic costs and save medical expenses.

The anterior disc displacement (ADD) leads to temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) and mandibular growth retardation in adolescents. To investigate the potential functional role of fibrocartilage stem cells (FCSCs) during the process, a surgical ADD-TMJOA mouse model was established. From 1 week after model generation, ADD mice exhibited aggravated mandibular growth retardation with osteoarthritis (OA)-like joint cartilage degeneration, manifesting with impaired chondrogenic differentiation and loss of subchondral bone homeostasis. Lineage tracing using Gli1-CreER⁺; Tm^fl/-mice and Sox9-CreER⁺;Tm^fl/-mice showed that ADD interfered with the chondrogenic capacity of Gli1⁺ FCSCs as well as osteogenic differentiation of Sox9⁺ lineage, mainly in the middle zone of TMJ cartilage. Then, a surgically induced disc reposition (DR) mouse model was generated. The inhibited FCSCs capacity was significantly alleviated by DR treatment in ADD mice. And both the ADD mice and adolescent ADD patients had significantly relieved OA phenotype and improved condylar growth after DR treatment. In conclusion, ADD-TMJOA leads to impaired chondrogenic progenitor capacity and osteogenesis differentiation of FCSCs lineage, resulting in cartilage degeneration and loss of subchondral bone homeostasis, finally causing TMJ growth retardation. DR at an early stage could significantly alleviate cartilage degeneration and restore TMJ cartilage growth potential.
Animals ; Mice ; Osteogenesis ; Zinc Finger Protein GLI1 ; Fibrocartilage ; Temporomandibular Joint ; Disease Models, Animal ; Osteoarthritis ; Stem Cells ; Growth Disorders

Objective To identify pathological mutation of D4Z4 in a child with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) presented initially as mental retardation.Methods Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised in China (WISC-Ⅳ) was used to assess the patient's IQ.Other clinical data was also collected.With genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood samples,the child and his parents were subjected to medical exome sequencing and copy number variation analysis by next generation sequencing (NGS).The D4Z4 repeats and their origin source were determined by molecular combing.Results By the WISC-Ⅳ test,the child was found to have a total IQ of 41,with a speech comprehension IQ of 45,and perceptual inference index IQ of 52.No pathological mutation was detected by NGS.By molecular combing method,the child was found to carry a D4Z4 spanning 5.2 kb with a copy number of 2.Analysis of his parents indicate that the mutation was de novo.Conclusion The D4Z4 copy number variation may account for the FSHD and mental retardation in the child.The molecular combing method can be used to identify the number of repeat units and facilitate the diagnosis of FSHD.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application effect of a specific antibody detection kit for human echinococcosis (hydatidosis kit),and provide technical support for further optimization of the production process of hydatidosis kit.Methods Using the method of retrospective investigation,1 481 patients with hydatidosis and 1 055 no-hydatidosis patients who were diagnosed by operation,pathology (gold standard) and hydatidosis kit in First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University,from 2012 to 2016 were selected.The clinical data was analyzed.The diagnostic performance of the kit was evaluated.The stepwise discriminant analysis method was applied to construct discriminant analysis function and establish a diagnostic model for echinococcosis.The detection efficiency of four antigens in hydatidosis kit was analyzed.Results A total of 2 536 patients [1 275 males,1 261 females,aged (41.62 ± 18.43) years old] were investigated,with the highest proportion in the 30-59 age group (1 489cases).Liver was the main organ affected by echinococcosis.The sensitivity,specificity and consistency of the hydatidosis kit were 94.80％ (1 404/1 481),71.00％ (749/1 055),and 84.90％ (2 153/2 536),Yoden index was 0.66 and Kappa value was 0.68.The stepwise discriminant analysis function Y =0.777X1 + 0.258X2 + 0.241X3-1.575 was constructed by the stepwise discriminant analysis method.There was no significant difference between the consistency of stepwise discriminant analysis model and the current diagnostic criteria (85.73％ vs 84.90％,x2 =0.694,P ＞ 0.05).The consistency of differential diagnosis between vesicular and cystic echinococcosis was 76.07％ (1 068/1 404).There was no significant difference in the detection efficacy between Echinococcus granulosus cystic fluid antigen (EgCF) and hydatidosis kit (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The diagnosis and differential diagnosis efficiency of hydatidosis kit is high.It is suitable for clinical diagnosis and field epidemiological investigation of echinococcosis in hospitals at all levels.EgCF can be used as the antigen of echinococcosis monoantigen strip,and can be applied in the epidemiological investigation of echinococcosis.

Objective To compare and analyze the differences in the transcriptomics between mycelium and early yeast phases of Sporothrix schenckii (S.schenckii),and to realize the changes in transcriptome expression profiles during mycelium-to-yeast transformation.Methods A standard strain of S.schenckii (ATCC 10268) was subjected to 96-hour culture with Sabouraud medium at 25 ℃ or 36-hour culture with brain-heart infusion medium at 37 ℃ to obtain the mycelium and yeast form of S.schenckii,and then,their transcriptomes were sequenced.Functional annotation was performed for screened unigenes by comparison using several databases (such as NR,Swiss-Prot,KEGG,COG,KOG,GO and Pfam),coding sequence prediction,and gene expression analysis in each sample.Finally,the differentially expressed genes were subjected to pattern clustering,functional annotation and enrichment analysis.Results A total of 14.76 Gb valid data (clean data) were obtained,and functional annotation results were acquired in 28 094 of 43 863 assembled unigene clusters.Compared with S.schenckii in mycelium phase,there were 10 969 up-regulated genes and 199 down-regulated genes in S.schenckii in yeast phase.These differentially expressed genes were involved in protein phosphorylation,intracellular protein transport,cellular protein modification,small guanosine triphosphate-mediated signal transduction,vesicle-mediated transport,translation,intracellular signal transduction,microtubule formation,adenosine triphosphate synthesis,coupled proton transport and so on.Sixteen genes in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and two-component signaling pathway,which were two important signal transduction pathways involved in fungal morphogenesis,and 16 genes involved in chitin synthesis and metabolism were all confirmed to be up-regulated in S.schenckii in yeast phase.Conclusions Compared with S.schenckii in mycelium phase,great changes in gene expression profiles were observed in S.schenckii in yeast phase.These differentially expressed genes are involved in many functions,suggesting that the dimorphic transition of S.schenckii is regulated by a multi-gene network system.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment of a family with inherited generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) caused by STX1B gene mutation and to review the literature.Methods Clinical data of a child with GEFS+ and his family members who visited Guangzhou Women and Children Medical Center in August 2017 were collected.DNA samples of the proband and his parents,his grandparents were analyzed by the next-generation sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing.A literature search with "STX1B " as the key word was conducted at PubMed,China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to include recently published studies (up to May 2018).Results The proband was a 2-year-old boy who was admitted to our hospital because of frequent epileptic seizures in a month,with focal seizures evolving into the generalized bilateral tonic-clonic epileptic attacks after febrile seizure.His seizures were well controlled by levetiracetam.His father presented febrile seizure in early childhood stage and epilepsy in adult stage,which were under control with lamotrigine.The proband's grandmother had a history of febrile seizure.Other family members had no history of convulsion.Ictal electroencephalogram showed low voltage fast activities (8-10 Hz) originating from the central region of the brain.Heterozygous mutation of STX1B gene (c.705C＞G,p.Asn235Lys) was detected in the proband,his father and grandmother.The mutation has not been reported previously.Furthermore,no other family members carried the mutation at c.705 locus of STX1B gene.No article in Chinese was found,and 4 articles in a language other than Chinese provided the complete case data of 9 mutation loci in 33 patients (4 families and 4 sporadic cases).With this research data (3 cases in 1 family) included,there were 36 cases and 10 mutation sites in STX1B gene.Of these mutations,there were 5 missense mutations,3 nonsense mutations,1 insert mutation and 1 deletion mutation;and according to the mutation distribution,there were 4 mutation sites in exon 3,2 in exon 8,2 in exon 9,and 1 in exon 1.There was incomplete penetrance in the family,so different types of epileptic attacks occurred among different family members.Conclusions In this study,a de novo mutation of STX1B gene in a family with GEFS+ was defined,which would expand the gene mutation spectrum and provide basis for family genetic counseling.Clinical heterogeneity was found in this family.Seizures caused by STX 1B gene mutation were sensitive to antiepileptic drugs.

To construct a competency model for junior caregivers for the elderly and to provide a reference for the selection, evaluation and training for the junior caregivers for the elderly.
 Methods: Firstly, we drafted the primary competency model for junior caregivers for the elderly through literature review. Then, we used Delphi method to carry out 2 rounds of questionnaire survey for 20 experts to optimize the indicators for primary model. The weight of each indicator is determined by analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and expert sequencing method.
 Results: The effective recovery rates of the two-round questionnaire were 87% and 100%, respectively. The expert authority coefficient was 0.70-0.93, and the average authority coefficient was 0.80. The final version of the competency model for junior caregivers for the elderly included 4 first-grade indexes, 11 second-grade indexes and 37 third-grade indexes.
 Conclusion: The competency model for the junior caregivers for the elderly is reliable and can be used as the reference standard for the selection, evaluation and training for the junior caregivers for the elderly.
Aged ; Caregivers ; standards ; Clinical Competence ; Delphi Technique ; Health Services for the Aged ; standards ; Humans ; Medical Staff, Hospital ; standards ; Reference Standards ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To explore the effect of hospital-community integration follow-up pattern on medication compliance in patients with mental disorder. Methods From January 2016 to January 2017, 96 patients were treated effectively with systemic therapy in psychosomatic department and TCM WM department, and 96 discharged mental disorder patients were treated with brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS) ≤ 28. The patients were randomly divided into 48 cases in the intervention group and the control group; both groups were standardized medication; control group received an outpatient referral, intervention group combined with medical doctors in our hospital and community doctors for one year follow-up intervention. Observed the condition of illness and medication compliance after six months and one year intervention between two groups, compared the patient recurrence rate of one year after discharge. Results BPRS score of intervention group was significantly lower than control group (P＜0. 01), the difference was statistically significant, while intervention group had higher compliance than control group (P＜0. 01), and the difference was statistically significant. Recurrence rate (20. 83％) of intervention group was significantly lower than control group (38. 78％) ( 2 = 4. 03, P＜0. 05), the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion Hospital-community integration follow-up has positive effect on stabilizing patients with mental disorder and improving compliance and decreasing relapse rate.

Objective Pancreatic enzymes may spread into the injured intestine, bloodstream,and cause the cascade of inflammatory reactions. Our objective was to explore trypsin expression in serum and vital organs in septic rats. Methods Trypsin levels in serum, heart, lung and jejunum were tested and compared between Escherichia coli endotoxin injected rats(SS), SS treated with a protease inhibitor (ulinastatin) and control group(SHAM). The correlations between serum trypsin, intestinal proteins and inflammation indices were assessed.Two components of mucosal barrier, i.e. mucin-2 and E-cadherin,were measured to evaluate the intestinal mucosal barrier function. The levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin-6(IL-6) and neutrophil elastase(NE) were measured to determine the inflammation indices.Results Compared to SHAM group, trypsin levels in serum[(73.71±9.14) ng/ml vs. (12.12±2.36) ng/ml],heart[(51.60±15.06) ng/ml vs. (6.39±3.53) ng/ml],lung [(54.73±5.57) ng/ml vs. (5.24±3.08) ng/ml] and jejunum(1.19 ± 0.48 vs. 0.40 ± 0.12) were significantly higher in SS group (all P<0.05). The level of serum trypsin had negative correlation with mucin-2 and E-cadherin, and positive correlation with TNFα, IL-6 and NE (all P<0.05). In rats treated with ulinastatin, trypsin levels were significantly decreased compared with those in SS group including in serum [(65.79±4.88)ng/ml]], heart [(26.33±12.03)ng/ml], lung [(28.73±14.46) ng/ml] and jejunum (0.80±0.20) (all P<0.05).Serum TNFα[ (247.34±16.97)ng/L vs. (178.78±40.81)ng/L] revealed similar changes in ulinastatin and SS group, whereas mucin-2(0.58 ± 0.14 vs. 0.89 ± 0.17)and E-cadherin(0.11 ± 0.04 vs. 0.23 ± 0.06)were both significantly elevated after administration of ulinastatin (both P<0.05). Conclusion Serum and tissue trypsin is elevated in septic rats. Protease inhibitor ulinastatin protects intestinal function by reducing inflammatory reaction.