ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence rate of chronic non-communicable diseases （NCDs） and the association with quality of life in middle-aged and elderly patients with HIV/AIDS. MethodsThis cross-sectional study surveyed 432 patients with HIV/AIDS （aged≥45 years） in the Infectious Disease Center in Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University， and 366 participants were included in the analysis after quality control. A questionnaire and the EuroQol 5-Dimensional 3-level version （EQ-5D-3L） were used to investigate NCDs and quality of life and Tobit regression model was used to estimate the association between chronic diseases and quality of life. ResultsAmong the 366 participants， 29（7.9%） had cardiovascular disease， 45（12.3%） had hypertension， 122（33.3%） had hyperglycemia， 151（41.3%）had hyperlipidemia，7（1.9%） had cancer， 17 （4.6%） had chronic kidney disease， 38 （10.4%） had chronic liver disease， 21（5.7%） had musculoskeletal disorders， and 253（69.1%） suffered from at least one type of chronic diseases. The median （lower and upper quartiles） of EQ-5D utility index was 1.000（0.964~1.000）. Multivariate Tobit regression results of the total population showed that cancer ［b_a=-0.08，95%CI （-0.15，-0.01），P=0.036］， chronic kidney disease ［b_a=-0.07， 95%CI （-0.12，-0.02），P=0.006］， musculoskeletal disease ［b_a=-0.09， 95%CI （-0.13， -0.05），P<0.001］， and ≥3 types of chronic diseases［b_a=-0.05， 95%CI（-0.08，-0.01），P=0.013］ were negatively correlated with EQ-5D utility index. The stratified analysis results of different CD4+T cell levels showed that hypertension ［b_a=-0.07， 95%CI （-0.12， -0.02）， P=0.007］， chronic kidney disease ［b_a=-0.10，95%CI （-0.18，-0.03）， P=0.006］， musculoskeletal disease ［b_a=-0.15， 95%CI （-0.22，-0.07）， P<0.001］ and ≥3 types of chronic diseases ［b_a=-0.09， 95%CI （-0.09， -0.01）， P<0.001］ were negatively correlated with EQ-5D utility index in the group with CD4≤500 （cells/μL）， whereas cancer［b_a=-0.11， 95%CI （-0.20，-0.01）， P=0.031］ was negatively correlated with EQ-5D utility index in the group with CD4＞500（cells/μL）. ConclusionsThe prevalence rate of chronic non-communicable diseases in middle-aged and elderly patients with HIV/AIDS is relatively high. The classification of NCDs such as cancer or chronic kidney disease or other chronic diseases and the numbers of NCDs categories are negatively correlated with quality of life. However，this association varies among patients with HIV/AIDS of different CD4+T cell levels. It is suggested that we should try to prevent and identify NCDs at an early stage， strengthen linkages and integration of health services for AIDS and chronic NCDs， and jointly manage and control AIDS with chronic diseases to improve the quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS.

Objective To investigate the effect of quercetin on HCE-2 injury of human corneal epithelial cells induced by high osmotic pressure and its mechanism.Methods HCE-2 cells were randomly divided into control group(normal osmotic pressure),model group(high osmotic pressure),experimental-L group(high osmotic pressure+31.25 pg·mL-1 quercetin),experimental-M group(high osmotic pressure+62.50 μg·mL-1 quercetin),experimental-H group(high osmotic pressure+125.00 μg·mL-1 quercetin),erastin group(high osmotic pressure+125.00 μg·mL-1 quercetin+30.00 μmol·L-1 iron death inducer erastin).Cell survival rate was detected by cell counting kit 8;reactive oxygen species(ROS)levels was detected by C11-BODIPY 581/591 probe staining;glutathione(GSH)and malondialdehyde(MDA)levels were determined by kit method;the expression levels of glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4),dihydrolactate dehydrogenase(DHODH)and ferroptosis suppressor protein 1(FSP1)were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.Results The cell survival rates of control group,model group,experimental-H group and erastin group were(100.00±3.97)％,(50.05±5.83)％,(86.35±7.35)％and(58.32±4.66)％,respectively;ROS levels were 1.00±0.09,2.45±0.16,1.19±0.05 and 2.09±0.30,respectively;GPX4 protein levels were 1.09±0.11,0.34±0.03,0.91±0.12 and 0.30±0.04,respectively;FSP1 protein levels were 0.92±0.06,0.25±0.03,0.89±0.07 and 0.39±0.07,respectively;DHODH protein levels were 0.89±0.11,0.31±0.04,0.86±0.11,0.41±0.04,respectively.Compared with model group,the above indexes in control group were statistically significant(all P＜0.05);the differences between experimental-H group and model group were statistically significant(all P＜0.05);the above indexes in erastin group were significantly different from those in experimental-H group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Quercetin can ameliorate HCE-2 cell damage induced by high osmotic pressure by inhibiting iron death pathway.

As one of the key components of clinical trials, blinding, if successfully implemented, can help to mitigate the risks of implementation bias and measurement bias, consequently improving the validity and reliability of the trial results. However, successful blinding in clinical trials of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is hard to achieve, and the evaluation of blinding success through blinding assessment lacks established guidelines. Taking into account the challenges associated with blinding in the TCM field, here we present a framework for assessing blinding. Further, this study proposes a blinding assessment protocol for TCM clinical trials, building upon the framework and the existing methods. An assessment report checklist and an approach for evaluating the assessment results are presented based on the proposed protocol. It is anticipated that these improvements to blinding assessment will generate greater awareness among researchers, facilitate the standardization of blinding, and augment the blinding effectiveness. The use of this blinding assessment may further advance the quality and precision of TCM clinical trials and improve the accuracy of the trial results. The blinding assessment protocol will undergo continued optimization and refinement, drawing upon expert consensus and experience derived from clinical trials. Please cite this article as: Wang XC, Liu XY, Shi KL, Meng QG, Yu YF, Wang SY, Wang J, Qu C, Lei C, Yu XP. Blinding assessment in clinical trials of traditional Chinese medicine: Exploratory principles and protocol. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 528-536.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Outcome Assessment, Health Care ; Reference Standards ; Reproducibility of Results ; Research Design ; Clinical Trials as Topic

Aim To observe the inhibitory effect of Alpha-momorcharin (α-MMC) on the inflammatory cytokine storm of Ml-type inflammatory macrophages induced by LPS and explore its possible targeting mechanism. Methods Western blot was used to detect the expression of WIL2-S B lymphocytes, H9 T lymphocytes, THP-1 monocytes and M0 macrophages LRP1 receptor protein. CCK-8 method was used to detect the survival rate of the four cells. ELISA was used to detect the expression level of inflammatory cytokines in Ml macrophages. Western blot was used to detect the expression of TLR4 signaling pathway-related protein in Ml macrophages. Results Macrophages had a high density of LRP1 receptors consistent with monocytes; the survival rate of α-MMC on the four cells was positively correlated with the density of this receptor; α-MMC inhibited the expression of inflammatory cytokinesTNF-α, IL-lβ, IL-6, IL-8, MlP-lα and MCP-1 in Ml macrophages in a dose-and time-dependent manner; α-MMC showed significant inhibition to TAKl/pTAK1, p-JNK, p-APl and p-p65 signaling proteins of the TLR4 signaling pathway, and this inhibition could be blocked by the LRP1 receptor blocker RAP. Conclusions α-MMC selectively inhibits macrophage inflammatory cytokine synthesis by inhibiting TAK1 of the TLR4 signaling pathway, which in turn inhibits the downstream NF-ΚB and MAPK pathways, mediated by the LRP1 receptor. The selective immunosuppressive effect of α-MMC on macrophages may make it a very promising agent for the treatment of acute infectious macrophage activation syndrome (MAS).

ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate the efficacy and mechanism of Yishen Shengjing Prescription （YSP） in the treatment of oligoasthenospermia in rats. MethodThe oligoasthenospermia rat model was established by injection with cyclophosphamide （35 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） for 5 consecutive days. Rats were randomly assigned into control group （without treating with cyclophosphamide）， model group， low- （YSP-L）， medium- （YSP-M）， and high- （YSP-H） dose （2.91， 5.83， and 11.66 g·kg^-1， respectively） groups， Wuzi Yanzongwan （WYW， 1.03 g·kg^-1） group， and L-carnitine （0.17 g·kg^-1） group， with 8 rats in each group. After 28 days of drug intervention， the body weight， testicular weight， and testicular index of rats were recorded. The sperm quality in epididymis was detected by computer-assisted sperm analysis （CASA） system. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was employed for observation of testicular tissue morphology. The levels of malondialdehyde （MDA） and superoxide dismutase （SOD） in testicular tissue were detected by colorimetry. The levels of follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， and testosterone （T） in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling （TUNEL） was employed to detect the apoptosis of testicular cells. The protein levels of B cell lymphoma-2（Bcl-2）， Bax， and cleaved Caspase-3 in testicular tissue were detected by Western blot. ResultCompared with the control group， the model group showed decreased body weight， testicular weight and index， sperm concentration and motility （P<0.01） and increased testicular pathological score （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the YSP-M， YSP-H， WYW， and L-carnitine groups showed increased body weight， testicular weight， testicular index， sperm concentration and motility and decreased testicular pathological score. After modeling， the SOD level decreased （P<0.01） while the MDA content increased （P<0.01） in the testicular tissue. YSP-H， WYW， and L-carnitine reversed the SOD and MDA level changes caused by modeling. Compared with the control group， the model group exhibited declined T level （P<0.01） and increased FSH and LH levels （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， YSP， WYW， and L-carnitine increased the T level （P<0.01） and decreased the LH level （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The apoptosis rate of spermatogenic cells in the model group was higher than that in the control group （P<0.01）， whereas YSP-M， WYW， and L-carnitine reversed such changes （P<0.01）. The model group rats showed decreased expression of Bcl-2（P<0.05） and increased expression of Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared the model group， YSP-M， YSP-H， WYW， and L-carnitine up-regulated the Bcl-2 expression and down-regulated the cleaved Caspase-3 expression （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionYSP improved the sperm quality of oligoasthenospermia model rats by regulating the antioxidant system and sex hormone levels and inhibiting the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells.

Objective     To analyze the clinical information of COVID-19 patients of Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center cabin hospital, and to explore the medical management strategy to provide thoughtful suggestions for other cabin hospitals and governments as valuable references. Methods     The clinical data of 174 308 patients confirmed COVID-19 in Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center cabin hospital from April 9 to May 31, 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. There were 103 539 male and 70 769 female patients, with an average age of 41.50±15.30 years. Medical and nursing management strategy was summarized. Results     Among the 174 308 patients, 71.5% (124 630 patients) were asymptomatic. The vaccination rate of patients with COVID-19 in the cabin hospital was 76.5% (133 338 patients), and the majority of none vaccinated patients were children under the age of 10 years and the elderly over the age of 60 years, the vaccination rate of whom was only 25.0% (1 322 patients) and 63.9% (13 715 patients), respectively. In addition, the proportion of mild symptom type in the patients not vaccinated was significantly higher than that in the vaccinated patients (P≤0.01). The average hospitalization time of patients in cabin hospital was 7.39±0.53 days, which was 7.01±2.12 days for patients under 60 years and 8.21±0.82 days for patients over 60 years. The hospitalization time of elderly patients was significantly longer (P≤0.01), and the hospitalization time of elderly patients at age over 60 years without vaccination was 8.94±1.71 days, which was significantly longer than the average hospitalization time and the time of elderly patients vaccinated (P≤0.01). The number of patients combined with basic diseases was 27 864 (16.0%), of which cardiovascular diseases accounted for 81.3% (22 653 patients). A total of 2 085 patients were transferred and treated in designated hospitals. Conclusion     Large scale cabin hospitals are helpful to cut off the source of infection. Attention shall be paid to the sorting of admission and timely transfer to other hospital during the patients management. Most of the patients have a good prognosis after treatment. The vaccination of key population and community-based screening will be the next step of focus.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a very important pathogen, especially for children.On a global scale, GAS is an important cause of morbidity and mortality.But the burden of disease caused by GAS is still unknown in China and also has not obtained enough attention.For this purpose, the expert consensus is comprehensively described in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of GAS diseases in children, covering related aspects of pneumology, infectiology, immunology, microbiology, cardiology, nephrology, critical care medicine and preventive medicine.Accordingly, the consensus document was intended to improve management strategies of GAS disease in Chinese children.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between blood pressure variability (BPV) and incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in trauma patients.Methods:Patients admitted to the department of emergency medicine of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University for acute trauma from January 2018 to December 2021 were enrolled. The clinical data and blood pressure at admission (T1), 10 minutes before anesthesia (T2), 60 minutes after surgery (T3), and 24 hours after surgery (T4) were collected. Coefficient of variation of blood pressure variation [CV-BP, including coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure (CV-SBP), coefficient of variation of diastolic blood pressure (CV-DBP), coefficient of variation of mean arterial pressure (CV-MAP)] and its quartile were calculated. Patients were divided into Q1 group (CV-MAP ≤ 7.27), Q2 group (7.27 < CV-MAP ≤ 9.50), Q3 group (9.50 < CV-MAP ≤ 14.05) and Q4 group (CV-MAP > 14.05) according to CV-MAP quartile. The PTSD symptoms of the patients were evaluated using the PTSD scale (PCL-5) one month later, and the patients were divided into the PTSD group and the non-PTSD group according to whether PCL-5 score higher than 38. Then the differences of the above indicators were compared and analyzed. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between each index and PCL-5 score; the risk factors of PTSD were analyzed by univariate binary Logistic regression. Variables with P < 0.05 were included in the multivariate binary Logistic regression model. The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to analyze the predictive value of CV-MAP on the incidence of PTSD. Results:A total of 112 patients were enrolled, including 24 in PTSD group and 88 in non-PTSD group. Compared with non-PTSD group, the proportion of women, T1 shock index, proportion of intraoperative and postoperative blood transfusion in PTSD group was higher. Besides, PTSD group also had longer PT, more intraoperative and postoperative blood transfusion, and lower postoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level (all P < 0.05). The T1 SBP, DBP, MAP and T4 MAP of patients in PTSD group were significantly lower than those in non-PTSD group [T1 SBP (mmHg, 1 mmHg≈0.133 kPa): 105.0 (86.3, 121.3) vs. 122.0 (112.0, 132.8), T1 DBP (mmHg): 62.5 (50.0, 77.3) vs. 76.0 (68.5, 82.8), T1 MAP (mmHg): 77.8 (60.4, 91.3) vs. 93.3 (82.5, 99.0), T4 MAP (mmHg): 83.8±9.1 vs. 88.7±10.4, all P < 0.05], CV-SBP, CV-DBP and CV-MAP were higher than those in the non-PTSD group [CV-SBP: 12.80 (10.12, 19.16) vs. 9.30 (6.07, 12.95), CV-DBP: 16.62±6.47 vs. 12.40±5.61, CV-MAP: 14.10 (9.25, 18.85) vs. 8.90 (6.93, 13.29), all P < 0.05]. Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between CV-MAP and PCL-5 scores in patients with acute trauma ( r = 0.429, P < 0.001); multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that only CV-MAP [odds ratio ( OR) = 1.128, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.015-1.254, P = 0.025] and CV-DBP ( OR = 1.114, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.016-1.221, P = 0.022) was the risk factor for PTSD in acute trauma patients. Compared with Q1 group, Q4 group was significantly more likely to develop PTSD ( OR = 18.6, 95% CI was 1.9-179.1, P = 0.012). CV-SBP, CV-DBP and CV-MAP had certain predictive value on PTSD diagnosis in patients with acute trauma according to ROC curve analysis results [area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.713, 0.682 and 0.726, respectively], among which CV-MAP has the highest predictive value. When the cut-off value of CV-MAP was 12.158, the sensitivity was 75.0% and the specificity was 69.3%. Conclusion:Higher BPV after trauma is a risk factor for PTSD. Maintaining stable blood pressure in trauma patients is of great significance for prevention and treatment of PTSD.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of combining two needling manipulations, Er Long Xi Zhu (two dragons playing with a pearl) and Guo Yan Re (heat produced to reach the eyes), in treating dry eye syndrome (DES) of lung-yin deficiency pattern. Methods: Fifty-six eligible DES patients of lung-yin deficiency were randomized into an observation group and a control group, with 28 cases in each group. Same acupoints were selected in the two groups: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Sizhukong (TE 23), Taiyang (EX-HN 5) and Fengchi (GB 20) were chosen as the major points and Feishu (BL 13) and Chize (LU 5) as the adjuvant. Er Long Xi Zhu and Guo Yan Re needling manipulations were applied in the observation group while twirling reinforcing manipulation was used in the control group. Treatment was conducted once per day in both groups, for two sets of 15 consecutive days at a 2-day interval. Changes in the symptom score, tear break-up time (BUT) and tear production were observed afterwards, and the clinical efficacy was also compared between the two groups. Results: The total effective rate was 92.8％ in the observation group, higher than 71.4％ in the control group, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, the symptom score, tear BUT and tear production showed significant improvements in both groups (all P<0.05); the symptom score, BUT and tear production in the observation group were significantly different from those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Given the same acupoint selection, combining Er Long Xi Zhu and Guo Yan Re needling manipulations can produce more significant clinical efficacy than twirling reinforcing manipulation in treating DES of lung-yin deficiency pattern.

Free Tissue Flaps ; Humans ; Mandible ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Printing, Three-Dimensional