POEMS syndrome is a rare condition associated with plasma cell disorders， and it often involves multiple systems and has diverse clinical manifestations. This article reports two cases of POEMS syndrome with hepatosplenomegaly as the initial manifestation. During the course of the disease， the patients presented with lower limb weakness， hepatosplenomegaly， lymph node enlargement， ascites， hypothyroidism， positive M protein， and skin hyperpigmentation， and ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT imaging revealed bone lesions mainly characterized by osteolytic changes and plasma cell tumors. There was an increase in the serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor. The patients were finally diagnosed with POEMS syndrome， and the symptoms were relieved after immunomodulatory treatment.

Heart failure is a fatal stage of end-stage cardiovascular disease,which brings a huge medical burden to the society because of its high mortality and re-hospitalisation rates.Intestinal microecology is the largest and most com-plex microecosystem of human body.It is inhabited by tens of thousands of microorganisms in human gastrointestinal tract.In recent years,with the deepening of the study of intestinal flora,more and more studies have found that the im-balance of intestinal microecology can cause changes of metabolites in heart failure patients,which is one of the key triggers for the development of heart failure,therefore,using the intestinal microbial homeostasis as a new entry point for the treat-ment of heart failure will be a hotspot in medical research.However,the theory of Chinese medicine,"the spleen is the guardian",covers the physiological functions of the spleen,such as the spleen's main function of transporting,spleen's main function of ascending and clearing,and its main function of hiding camping,etc.,and the functions of intestinal flora and the"spleen is the guardian"are similar to a certain extent.Therefore,this paper starts from a holistic viewpoint and takes the theory of"spleen as the guardian"in Chinese medicine as an entry point to elaborate on the pathogenesis of intes-tinal microecological imbalance and heart failure,so as to provide a reference for Chinese medicine treatment or drug re-search.

Viral hepatitis is one of the serious infectious diseases affecting the health of Chinese residents. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the goal of eliminating the threat of viral hepatitis by 2030 as a global public health goal. However, in the prevention and control of viral hepatitis C, due to the etiological characteristics of the hepatitis C virus and the particularity of the natural history of HCV infection, there has been no breakthrough in the research of hepatitis C vaccine. The specificity of the HCV infection population, alongside the fact that the majority of those infected with HCV remain asymptomatic, presents numerous challenges in controlling and preventing hepatitis C. This article provides a comprehensive review of the virology, epidemiology, and current prevention and control challenges faced in the management of hepatitis C.

Objective To investigate the effects of thoracoscopy-based reduction and internal fixation in the rehabilitation process and functional recovery of elderly patients with rib fracture. Methods Eighty-five elderly patients with rib fracture were selected as the study objects, and divided into control group (n=41, thoracotomy and internal fixation) and observation group (n=44, thoracoscopy-based reduction and internal fixation) according to different treatment plans. The surgical indexes (oxygensaturation recovery time, respiratory rate recovery time, mechanical ventilation time, hospital stay and bone healing time), pain scores, lung function indexes[forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEF)], blood gas indexes { arterial partial pressure of oxygen[p_a(O₂)] and arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide [p_a (CO₂)]}, clinical efficacy and complication rate were compared between the two groups. Results The blood oxygen saturation recovery time, respiratory rate recovery time, thoracic drainage tube indwelling time, hospital stay time and fracture healing time in the observation group were significantly shorter than those in the control group, and the chest tube drainage volume was significantly less than that in the control group (P < 0.05). At the 7 days after operation, visual analogue scale (VAS) score and p_a (CO₂) level in the two groups were significantly lower than before surgery, and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.05). At 7 days after surgery, the levels of FEV₁, FVC, PEF, FEV₁/FVC and p_a(O₂) in the two groups were significantly higher than before surgery, and the observation group was significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was 93.18%, which was significantly higher than 78.05% of the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of complications in the observation group was 4.55%, which was significantly lower than 9.51% in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Thoracoscopy-based reduction and internal fixation in treatment of elderly patients with rib fracture has significant clinical efficacy, which can effectively shorten the rehabilitation process, relieve the pain of patients, and promote the recovery of lung function, with high safety.

Neutrophils play an important role in infectious diseases by clearing pathogens in the early stages of the disease and damaging the surrounding tissues along with the disease progress. Low-density neutrophils (LDNs) are a crucial and distinct subpopulation of neutrophils. They are a mixture of activated and degranulated normal mature neutrophils and a considerable number of immature neutrophils prematurely released from the bone marrow. Additionally, they may be involved in the occurrence and development of diseases through the changes in phagocytosis, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the enhancement of the ability to produce neutrophils extracellular traps and immunosuppression. We summarizes the role of LDNs in the pathogenesis and their correlation with the severity of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), AIDS, and tuberculosis.
Humans ; Neutrophils ; COVID-19/pathology* ; Phagocytosis ; Extracellular Traps ; Communicable Diseases ; Reactive Oxygen Species

Berberine (BBR) as one of the most effective natural products has been increasingly used to treat various chronic diseases due to its immunosuppressive/tolerogenic activities. However, it is unknown if BBR can be applied without abrogating the efforts of vaccination. Here we show that priming of CD8⁺ T cells in the presence of BBR lead to improved central memory formation (Tcm) with substantially reduced effector proliferation, primarily orchestrated through activation of AMPK and Stat5. Tcm derived from vaccinated mice fed with BBR were able to adoptively transfer protective immunity to naïve recipients. Vaccination of BBR-fed mice conferred better memory protection against infection without losing immediate effector efficacy, suggesting appreciable benefits from using BBR in vaccination. Thus, our study may help to lay the groundwork for mechanistic understanding of the immunomodulatory effects of natural products and their potential use as adjuvant that allows the design of novel vaccines with more desirable properties.

Humans ; Asthma/drug therapy* ; Biological Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of denosumab on bone mineral density around proximal femoral prosthesis after total hip arthroplasty(THA) in the postmenopausal osteoporotic patients. METHODS: Fifty-four consecutive patients underwent unilateral primary THA were included in this retrospective study. Twenty-five patients received denosumab for osteoporosis as the treatment group, and the twenty-nine without denosumab were the control group. At 1 week, 3month, 6 months, and 12 months after THA, bone turnover markers and proximal femoral periprosthetic bone mineral density (BMD) were measured. RESULTS: At 3, 6 and 12 months after operation, the level of TRACP-5b in the control group was significantly higher than that in the treatment group (P<0.05);the level of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) between two groups showed significant difference in 12 months after operation (control group was higher than treatment group, P<0.05). The BMD of Gruen 1 and Gruen 7 decreased at 3, 6 and 12 months after operation compared with 1 week after operation. Comparing the treatment group and the control group, the differences of the the decrease of BMD in Gruen 1 and Gruen 7 were no significant at 3 months after surgery. In Gruen 1, Gruen 7 at 6 months after operation and Gruen 1, Gruen 7 at 12 months after operation, the decrease of BMD in the control group was significantly higher than that in the treatment group(P<0.05). It is suggested that desudumab could inhibit the loss of BMD after 6 months, and continuously show a protective effect on bone mass at 12 months after operation. CONCLUSION After THA in postmenopausal patients with osteoporotic femoral neck fracture, Desuzumab can reduce the loss of BMD around the proximal femoral prosthesis and effectively inhibit bone resorption.
Humans ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Bone Density ; Denosumab/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Postmenopause ; Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Remodeling ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip Prosthesis

HBeAg seroconversion refers to the disappearance of HBeAg and the appearance of anti-HBe in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with positive HBeAg in the past. HBeAg seroconversion marks the reductions in viral replication, immune tolerance, and liver inflammation and is an important monitoring indicator for evaluating disease conditions and the effect of CHB antiviral therapy, and it also indicates the endpoint of satisfactory treatment. Exploring the influencing factors for HBeAg seroconversion is of great significance to the selection of treatment regimens and the prognostic evaluation of CHB patients. This article mainly elaborates on the association of HBV with HBeAg seroconversion in CHB patients from the aspects of virological factors, host genetic factors, drug factors, and immunological factors.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of gamma-chain (γC) cytokines in regulating the expression of T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing molecule 3 (TIM-3) in CD8+ T cells of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. MethodsA total of 23 CHB patients who attended Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, from January to May, 2017, were enrolled. Peripheral blood was collected from all patients, and Ficoll density gradient centrifugation was used to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs were stimulated with interleukin-7 (IL-7), interleukin-15 (IL-15), and interleukin-21, respectively, and then anti-γC antibody and/or anti-IL-7Rα, anti-IL-2Rβ, and anti-IL-21R were added to the culture solution. After 96 hours of culture, flow cytometry was used to measure the expression of TIM-3, interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interferon-γ (IFNγ) and the phosphorylation level of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) in CD8+ T cells. A one-way analysis of variance and the least significant difference t-test were used for comparison of continuous data. ResultsThe CD8+ T cells stimulated by IL-7 and IL-15 had a significantly higher percentage of TIM-3-positive CD8+ T cells than those without stimulation (t=9.966 and 9074, P＜0.05), as well as significantly higher expression levels of IL-2, IL-10, and IFN-γ and phosphorylation levels of STAT-5 and STAT-1 (all P＜0.05). Stimulation with anti-IL-7Rα and anti-γC antibody significantly reduced the elevated expression levels of TIM-3, IL-2, and IL-10 in the IL-7 stimulation group (t=5.537, 6.224, and 4.500, P＜0.05). Stimulation with anti-IL-2Rβ alone or in combination with anti-γC antibody significantly reduced the expression levels of TIM-3 and IL-2 and the phosphorylation level of STAT-1 in the IL-15 stimulation group (P ＜0.05). ConclusionIL-7 and IL-15 can upregulate the expression of TIM-3 in CD8+ T cells of CHB patients, possibly via the γC receptor-mediated STAT-cytokine signaling pathway.