Objective To investigate the changes in the prevalence of Babesia microti infections, spleen morphology and proportions of splenic immune cells in BALB/c mice following intravenous and intraperitoneal injections, so as to provide insights into unraveling the immune regulatory mechanisms of Babesia infections. Methods Laboratory - maintained B. microti strains were prepared into whole blood samples with 10% prevalence of B. microti infection. A total of 75 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups, including the normal control group, intravenous injection group, and intraperitoneal injection group, of 25 mice in each group. Mice in the intravenous and intraperitoneal injection groups were administered 100 μL of whole blood samples with 10% prevalence of B. microti infection, with the day of injection recorded as d0, and animals in the normal control group were given no treatments. Blood was sampled from mice in each group via the tail tip on d7, d14, d21, d28 and d35, and prepared into thin-film blood smears, and B. microti infection was observed in red blood cells. Five mice were randomly sampled from each group and sacrificed on d7, d14, d21, d28 and d35, and spleen was collected for measurement of spleen size and weight. In addition, splenic cells were isolated, and the proportions of CD3e⁺ T cells, CD45R⁺ B cells, CD49b⁺ nature killer (NK) cells, and F4/80⁺ macrophages were detected in CD45⁺ lymphocytes using flow cytometry. Results The prevalence of B. microti infection in the intravenous (22.80%) and intraperitoneal injection groups (44.82%) peaked on d7 (χ² = 8.141, P < 0.01) and then rapidly decreased, and no parasites were observed on d35. The longest mouse spleen length [(32.91 ± 2.20) mm] and width [(9.82 ± 0.43) mm], and the greatest weight [(0.78 ± 0.10) g] were found on d14 in the intravenous injection group, and the longest spleen length [(32.42 ± 3.21) mm] and width [(10.25 ± 0.73) mm], and the greatest weight [(0.73 ± 0.09) g] were seen in the intra-peritoneal injection group on d21, d7 and d14, respectively. There were significant differences among the intravenous injection group, intraperitoneal injection group and the normal control group in terms of spleen length (F = 10.310, P < 0.05), width (F = 9.824, P < 0.05), and weight (F = 10.672, P < 0.05) on d21, and the mouse spleen length, width and weight were all significantly greater in the intraperitoneal injection group than in the intravenous injection group (allP values < 0.05). The proportions of splenic CD3e⁺ T cells [(60.60 ± 6.20)% and (39.68 ± 7.62)%], CD45R⁺ B cells [(43.32 ± 2.08)% and (49.53 ± 4.90)%], CD49b⁺ NK cells [(6.88 ± 1.34)% and (7.71 ± 1.59)%], and F4/80⁺ macrophages [(2.21 ± 0.29)% and (3.80 ± 0.35)%] peaked on d14, d21, d21 and d14 in the intravenous and intraperitoneal injection groups, respectively. There were significant differences in the proportions of CD3e⁺ T cells (F = 16.730, P < 0.05) and F4/80⁺ macrophages (F = 15.941, P < 0.05) among the intravenous injection group, intraperitoneal injection group and normal control group on d14, and a higher proportion of CD3e⁺ T cells and a lower proportion of F4/80⁺ macrophages were detected in the intravenous injection group than in the intraperitoneal injection group (both P values < 0.01). There were significant differences among the intravenous injection group, intraperitoneal injection group and normal control group on d21 in terms of proportions of splenic CD3e⁺ T cells (F = 9.252, P < 0.05), CD45R⁺ B cells (F = 14.349, P < 0.05), CD49b⁺ NK cells (F = 13.436,P < 0.05), and F4/80⁺ macrophages (F = 8.180, P < 0.05), and a higher proportion of CD3e⁺ T cells and lower proportions of CD45R⁺ B cells and F4/80⁺ macrophages were detected in the intravenous injection group than in the intraperitoneal injection group (all P values < 0.01). In addition, there was a significant difference in the proportion of CD3e⁺ T cells among the intravenous injection group, intraperitoneal injection group and normal control group on d28 (F = 9.772,P < 0.05), and a lower proportion of CD3e⁺ T cells was found in the intravenous injection group than in the intraperitoneal injection group (P < 0.01). Conclusions Both intraperitoneal and intravenous routes are effective to induce B. microti infections in BALB/c mice, and the prevalence of B. microti infections is higher in BALB/c mice through the intraperitoneal route than through the intravenous route. Intraperitoneal and intravenous injections with B. microti cause diverse spleen morphologies and proportions of splenic immune cells in mice, indicating routes of B. microti infections cause different impacts on immune response mechanisms in mice.

Objective To explore the effects of prohibitin 2(PHB2)on sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 to erlotinib(Erl)and its potential mechanisms.Methods RACK1-specific small interfering RNA was transfected in A549 cells for knocking-down of PHB2.The effects of PHB2 inhibition on cell proliferation and apop-tosis induced by Erl were observed.The colocalization of microtuble-associated protein light chain 3 alpha(LC3)and mitochondria was visualized by MitoTracker staining and green fluorescent protein-microtuble-associated protein light chain 3 alpha(GFP-LC3)transfection.Cell proliferation was detected by 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine(EdU)staining.Cell colony formation was evaluated by colony forming assay.Apoptotic index of A549 cells was evaluated by TUNEL.Western blot was used to measure the expressions of PHB2 and LC3Ⅱ.Mitochondrial transmembrane potential,cytochrome c and respiratory chain complexⅠ/Ⅱ/Ⅴactivity were analyzed by the commercially availa-ble kits.Results Compared with the siPHB2 and siCtrl+Erl group,the EdU-positive A549 cells and the number of cell colonies decreased significantly(P＜0.05),while the TUNEL-positive A549 cells increased significantly(P＜0.05)in the siPHB2+Erl group.In addition,compared with the siPHB2 and siCtrl+Erl group,mitochondrial transmembrane potential and respiratory chain complexⅠ/Ⅱ/Ⅴactivity decreased significantly(all P＜0.05)and the levels of cytochrome c increased in mitochondrial fractions(P＜0.05)and decreased in cytosolic fractions(P＜0.05)in the siPHB2+Erl group.Conclusions PHB2 inhibition significantly improves sensitivity of A549 cells to Erl,which may be explained by inhibition of PHB2-mediated mitochondrial autophagy.

Objective:To investigate the incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease and analyze the influencing factors.Methods:One hundred and ninety-eight patients with chronic kidney disease who were treated in Chronic Disease Management Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Apr. 2021 to Apr. 2022 were selected, including 71 patients with abnormal thyroid function and 127 patients with normal thyroid function. The differences in TT3, FT3, TT4, FT4, and TSH between patients with abnormal thyroid function and those with normal thyroid function were analyzed. At the same time, the abnormal thyroid function of patients with different clinical characteristics and the influencing factors were analyzed. The intergroup differences were analyzed using t-test or χ2-test, and the influencing factors were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results:In one hundred and ninety-eight patients with chronic kidney disease, thyroid function abnormality occurred in 71 patients (35.86%), including two or more abnormal thyroid function indicators in 35 patients (49.30%). The total triiodothyronine (TT3), free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxine (TT4) and free thyroxine (FT4) in patients with abnormal thyroid function were (1.02 ± 0.29) nmol/mL, (3.03 ± 0.88) pmol/L, (77.93 ± 20.02) nmol/mL and (11.02 ± 1.95) pmol/L respectively, which was significantly lower in patients with normal thyroid function (1.32±0.25) nmol/mL, (4.20±0.92) pmol/L, (93.30±19.28) nmol/mL and (13.54±1.82) pmol/ ( P<0.05), while thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was (3.14 ± 0.96) mIU/L, which was significantly higher than that in patients with normal thyroid function (1.84±0.89) mIU/L ( P<0.05). The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in female patients was 50.59% (43/85), It was significantly higher than 24.78% (28/113) of male patients (P <0.05) ; The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients aged 60 years was 49.55% (55/111), It was significantly higher than 18.39% (16/87) of the patients aged <60 years ( P<0.05) ; The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with 1-year duration of disease was 71.43% (30/42), It was significantly higher than 25.28% (41/156) of patients with a course of disease <1 year ( P<0.05) ; The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with clinical stage G 4 to 5 was 50.62% (41/81), It was significantly higher than 25.64% (30/117) of patients in G1~3 stages ( P<0.05) ; The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with diabetes was 74.36% (29/39), This was significantly higher than 26.42% (42/159) in patients without diabetes mellitus ( P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that gender, age, course of disease and clinical stage were the influencing factors of thyroid dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease ( P<0.05) . Conclusion:A high proportion of patients with chronic kidney disease have abnormal thyroid function, which is affected by the patient's sex, age, course of disease and clinical stage,clinical attention should be paid to targeted intervention to prevent the incidence of thyroid dysfunction in chronic kidney disease population.

To characterize human antibodies against low-calcium response V(LcrV)antigen of Yersinia pestis,the mono-clonal antibodies were screened and assayed.Antibody gene was derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the vaccin-ees immunized by plague subunit vaccine in phase Ⅱb clinical trial.Human ScFv antibody library was constructed by phage dis-play.After panning library by using recombinant LcrV antigen,antibody variable genes were sequenced and converted into IgG1 format to evaluate its binding specificity and relevant parameters.An anti-plague human ScFv antibody library was estab-lished contained 7.54× 108 independent clones.After panning by LcrV antigen,3 human antibodies named as RV-B4,RV-D1 and RV-E8,respectively,were identified.Using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and Western blot(WB),the specific bindings of the mAbs to LcrV antigen were confirmed.The dissociation constant(KD)of them to LcrV is 2.1 nmol/L,1.24 nmol/L and 42 nmol/L,respectively.Minor protective efficacy was found among 3 human antibodies in Y.pestis 141-infected mice.Three anti-LcrV monoclonal antibodies generated from immunized vaccinees were binding specific antibod-ies and could not block plague infection in mice.These antibodies are the potential candidate reagents for basic research of plague immunity and the application of plague diagnosis.

AIM: To investigate the effects of hypobaric hypoxia in plateau on tear indexes and related anatomical structures in rabbits.METHODS: A total of 18 healthy New Zealand rabbits were selected and randomly divided into plateau group and control group, with 9 rabbits(18 eyes)in each group. The plateau group was housed in the Simulated Climate Cabin for Special Environment of Northwest of China, simulating hypobaric hypoxia at an altitude of 6 000 m. The control group was housed in a clean animal room with atmospheric pressure and oxygen. Changes in the tear meniscus height and non-invasive tear break-up time were detected by using RHCT-1 corneal topographer dry eye comprehensive analysis system, changes in tear secretion was measured by Schirmer Ⅰ test, before intervention and on the 3, 7 d, 2 and 4 wk. Meanwhile, the changes in tear composition before and after intervention in the plateau environment were analyzed using Raman Spectroscopy. The histopathological changes of the lower lid conjunctiva, cornea, lacrimal gland, and Hardarian gland were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining after 4 wk of intervention, and the expression of mucin 5AC(MUC5AC)in conjunctiva was detected by immunohistochemistry.RESULTS: Compared with the control group, Schirmer Ⅰ test, tear meniscus height, first and average non-invasive tear break-up time in the plateau group decreased significantly since 3 d, and the difference was significant with the extension of observation time(P<0.05). The above indexes increased from 2 wk. After 4 wk of intervention, the protein and lipid content of the tear composition of rabbits in the plateau group increased, and the nucleic acid content decreased compared with the pre-intervention period. Compared with the control group, rabbits in the plateau group showed thickening of corneal stromal edema, an increase in the number of conjunctival cup cells, increase in the level of expression of MUC5AC, an increase in the level of expression of MUC5AC, an atrophy and flattening of cytoplasm in lacrimal epithelial cells, an enlargement of glandular lumen, and no obvious destructive changes in the Hardarian glands.CONCLUSION: Acute plateau environment can destroy the homeostasis of rabbit ocular surface, so that the tear secretion and the tear film stability decreases, but within a certain period of time, rabbits undergo compensation with the habituation to the hypobaric hypoxia environment, which can increase the tear secretion to a certain extent and restore the tear film stability.

Objective:To explore the potential of integrating virtual surgery with three-dimensional (3D) printed guides in the surgical management of mandibular benign tumors and subsequent reconstruction of bone defects.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients who underwent computer-assisted resection and vascularized fibular flap reconstruction for benign mandibular tumors at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, from June 2013 to December 2020. According to the utilization of guide plates for mandibular and fibular osteotomy during surgical procedures or not, the patients were categorized into two cohorts: a guide plate cohort and a non-guide plate cohort. In the guide plate group, custom-designed gudie plates based on virtual surgical plans were fabricated using 3D printing technology and employed intraoperatively; In the non-guide plate group, surgery was exclusively performed based on virtual surgical plan and prebent titanium plate without any supplementary plating. The measured outcomes included fibular flap osteotomy, operation duration, and clinical flap survival. Computed tomography images obtained one week post-surgery were utilized to assess the intersegmental commissure degree between fibular segments as well as between fibular segments and mandible, commissure degree between fibular segments and prebent titanium plate, and condyle position. The satisfaction of patients with their facial appearance was evaluated 6 months after the surgery using a visual analogue scale. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 21.0 software. Independent sample t-tests was utilized to compare the duration of operation and and postoperative evaluation of facial appearance, the Chi-square tests was utilized for condyle position, commissure degrees among interactions involving fibular segments, prebent titanium plates, bone segments( P<0.05 denoted statistical significance). Results:A total of 30 patients were enrolled, comprising 17 males and 13 females, with a median age of 24 years (16-64 years). The preparation process of fibular flaps proceeded smoothly. The required length of fibula was measured as (14.1 ± 1.9) cm (5.7-18.1 cm), while the number of fibular segments ranged from 2 to 4, averaging at approximately 2.9 ± 0.6. The mandibular defects were repaired using a single-layer fibula in 12 cases, a vascularized folded fibula in 7 cases and a combination of vascularized and non-vascularized fibula in 11 cases. The operation time for the guide plate group was recorded as ( 335.9 ± 64.0) min (240-433 min), while it was observed to be (470.7 ± 140.5 ) min (280-680 min) for the non-guide plate group.The postoperative follow-up duration ranged from 9 to 23 months, with an average period of 11 months. All fibular flaps demonstrated clinical survival. The number of patients with good commissure degree between fibular and mandibular segments, between prebent titanium plate and fibular and mandibular segments and the position of condyle were 15, 15 and 13 cases in guide plate group, 10, 13 and 11 cases in non-guide plate group respectively. The statistical analysis revealed a significant difference ( P<0.05) in the degree of commissure between the fibular and the mandibular segments (15/15 vs. 10/15) in the two groups. Both groups exhibited high levels of satisfaction regarding their postoperative facial appearance at the 6 months follow-up, observed to be 9.6±0.5 and 9.3±0.5 respectively, and the statisticla analysis revealed non-significant difference ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The integration of virtual surgery with 3D printed guide plates can effectively reduce operative time and improve precision in the repair and reconstruction of free-fibular flaps following resection of benign tumors of the mandible.

Objective To explore the risk factors of complicating urogenic sepsis after percutaneous nephrolithotripsy(PCNL)and construct a nomogram prediction model.Methods The data of 291 patients with stage 1 PCNL in 940 Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force from October 2016 to October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into the sepsis group and non-sepsis group according to whether complicating urogenic sepsis after operation.The general data,stone-related data,operation-related data and laboratory detection related data were included.The independent risk factors were screened by the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis,and the nomogram prediction model was constructed.Results The results of univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age≥60 years old(OR=6.438,95％CI:1.548-26.769),urinary leukocyte 3+(OR=5.651,95％CI:1.614-31.766),urinary nitrite positive(OR=7.117,95％CI:1.190-42.561),operation time≥90 min(OR=4.626,95％CI:1.137-18.817)and perfusion volume 30 L(OR=3.312,95％CI:1.090-10.061)were the independent risk factors of postoperative complicating urogenic sepsis.C-index of the constructed nomogram prediction model in the modeling samples was 0.937,the calibrated C-index was 0.914,and the model predictive efficien-cy was good.Conclusion Age ≥60 years old,urinary leukocyte 3+,urinary nitrite positive,operation time 90 min and perfusion volume ≥30 L are the independent risk factors for complicating urogenic sepsis after PCNL;the constructed nomogram prediction model has a good predictive efficiency for the occurrence of post-operative urogenic sepsis.

Objective To analyze the short- and long-term therapeutic effects of heart transplantation in children. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on recipients and donors who underwent heart transplantation at the 7th People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou from May 2018 to August 2023, analyzing their clinical characteristics, surgical data, postoperative complications, and survival rates. Results A total of 22 children underwent heart transplantation, including 14 males and 8 females, with a median age of 13.5 (10.0, 15.0) years and a median weight of 41.9 (30.5, 55.4) kg. The primary diseases included: dilated cardiomyopathy in 16 patients, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 1 patient, myocardial dysplasia in 3 patients, right ventricular dysplasia in 1 patient, and congenital heart disease with abnormal coronary artery origin in 1 patient. The median age of the donors was 21.0 (13.0, 29.0) years, and the median weight was 50.5 (47.3, 75.0) kg. The blood types of the donors and recipients were the same, with type A in 10 patients, type B in 5 patients, type O in 5 patients, and type AB in 2 patients. Before transplantation, all children had a New York Heart Association cardiac function grade Ⅳ, with 1 patient assisted by intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), 3 patients assisted by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), 2 patients assisted by continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), and 2 patients on mechanical ventilation. Nine patients met the criteria for emergency child status allocation, and the panel reactive antibody level in the patients was<10%. The median cold ischemic time of the donor heart was 355.0 (262.0, 395.5) min, the median aortic cross-clamping time was 45.0 (38.3, 51.3) min, the median mechanical ventilation time was 22.5 (16.8, 52.5) h, the median postoperative hospital stay was 29.5 (20.0, 43.0) d, and the median intensive care unit stay was 6.0 (5.0, 8.3) d. After surgery, 4 patients were assisted by ECMO, 2 patients by CRRT, and 7 patients developed complications, including lung fungal infection in 6 patients, liver and kidney dysfunction in 1 patient, local wound non-union and mediastinal infection in 1 patient, and multiple organ failure in 1 patient. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that the survival rates of children after surgery were 91.3% at 1 year and 3 years; the survival rates of adult heart transplant recipients at our center were 86.7% and 73.8% at 1 year and 3 years, respectively, indicating that the survival rate of children with heart transplantation was higher than that of adult patients. Conclusion Heart transplantation is an effective treatment for end-stage heart failure in children, and the short- and long-term survival rates of children with heart transplantation are superior to those of adults. There are still many difficulties to be solved in pediatric heart transplantation, requiring joint efforts from society and the medical community.

Objective:To analyze the individual and cumulative effects of unhealthy lifestyle on the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia in old adults in China, and find out the critical lifestyle in the network.Methods:Based on the baseline data of Yunnan Behavior and Disease Surveillance Cohort in 2021, a total of 16 763 older adults aged ≥60 years were included in our study. The unhealthy lifestyle factors including smoking, drinking, unhealthy eating habit, lower physical activity level, abnormal BMI and abnormal waist circumference. We calculated the unhealthy lifestyle score by using the cumulative exposures of each participant. Multiple logistic regression and mixed graphical models were used to describe the association between unhealthy lifestyle and the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.Results:The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia were 57.0%, 11.5% and 37.0%, respectively. Most of the unhealthy lifestyles included in the study were risk factors for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia, and the risks of disease increased with the increase of the unhealthy lifestyle score. The participants with the highest score (score: 6) had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension ( OR=3.99, 95% CI: 1.81-8.80), diabetes ( OR=4.64, 95% CI: 1.64-13.15) and dyslipidemia ( OR=4.26, 95% CI: 2.08-8.73) compared with those with lowest score (score: 0). In the network constructed by mixed graphical model, abnormal waist circumference (bridge strength=0.81) and hypertension (bridge strength=0.55) were vital bridge nodes connecting unhealthy lifestyle and hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia. Conclusions:The unhealthy lifestyle score was associated with risks for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia. Abnormal waist circumference was the key factor for chronic diseases in old adults.

In recent years, the research focus on health-related behavior and chronic non-communicable diseases has shifted from the analysis on independent effects of multiple causes on a single outcome to the evaluation the complex relationships between multiple causes and multiple effects. Complex network theory, an important branch of system science, considers the relationships among factors in a network and can reveal how health-related behaviors interact with chronic diseases through a series of complex network models and indicators. This paper summarizes the definition and development of complex network theory and its commonly used models, indicators, and case studies in the field of health-related behavior and chronic disease to promote the application of complex network theory in the field of health and provide reference and tools for future research of the relationship between health-related behavior and chronic disease.