OBJECTIVE: By analyzing the hormone secretion of the adenohypophysis, thyroid glands, gonads, and adrenal cortex in patients with hematological diseases before and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), this study aims to preliminarily explore the effect of HSCT on patients' hormone secretion and glandular damage. METHODS: The baseline data of 209 hematological disease patients who underwent HSCT in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2023, as well as the data on the levels of hormones secreted by the adenohypophysis, thyroid glands, gonads and adrenal cortex before and after HSCT were collected, and the changes in hormone levels before and after transplantation were analyzed. RESULTS: After allogeneic HSCT, the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and estradiol (E2) decreased, while the levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH) increased. The T3 level of patients with decreased TSH after transplantation was lower than that of those with increased TSH after transplantation. In female patients, the levels of prolactin (PRL), progesterone (Prog), and testosterone (Testo) decreased after HSCT. Testo and PRL decreased when there was a donor-recipient sex mismatch, and the levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol (COR) decreased when the HLA matching was haploidentical. The levels of T3, FT3, and PRL decreased after autologous HSCT. In allogeneic HSCT patients, the levels of TSH, T4, T3, FT3, and ACTH in the group with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were significantly lower than those in the group without GVHD. Logistic regression analysis showed the changes in hormone levels after transplantation were not correlated with factors such as the patient's sex, age, or whether the blood types of the donor and the recipient are the same. CONCLUSION HSCT can affect the endocrine function of patients with hematological diseases, mainly affecting target glandular organs such as the thyroid, gonads, and adrenal glands, while the secretory function of the adenohypophysis is less affected.
Humans ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Female ; Male ; Hematologic Diseases/blood* ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/blood* ; Triiodothyronine/blood* ; Luteinizing Hormone/blood* ; Thyroid Gland/metabolism* ; Estradiol/blood* ; Thyrotropin/blood* ; Gonads/metabolism* ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/blood* ; Hormones/metabolism* ; Adrenal Cortex/metabolism* ; Prolactin

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dynamic changes of glucocorticoid (GC) dose and the feasibility of GC discontinuation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients under the background of Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 1,196 RA patients enrolled in the China Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry of Patients with Chinese Medicine (CERTAIN) from September 1, 2019 to December 4, 2023, who initiated GC therapy. Participants were divided into the Western medicine (WM) and integrative medicine (IM, combination of CM and WM) groups based on medication regimen. Follow-up was performed at least every 3 months to assess dynamic changes in GC dose. Changes in GC dose were analyzed by generalized estimator equation, the probability of GC discontinuation was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curve, and predictors of GC discontinuation were analyzed by Cox regression. Patients with <12 months of follow-up were excluded for the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,196 patients (85.4% female; median age 56.4 years), 880 (73.6%) received IM. Over a median 12-month follow-up, 34.3% (410 cases) discontinued GC, with significantly higher rates in the IM group (40.8% vs. 16.1% in WM; P<0.05). GC dose declined progressively, with IM patients demonstrating faster reductions (median 3.75 mg vs. 5.00 mg in WM at 12 months; P<0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis identified age <60 years [P<0.001, hazard ratios (HR)=2.142, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.523-3.012], IM therapy (P=0.001, HR=2.175, 95% CI: 1.369-3.456), baseline GC dose ⩽7.5 mg (P=0.003, HR=1.637, 95% CI: 1.177-2.275), and absence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use (P=0.001, HR=2.546, 95% CI: 1.432-4.527) as significant predictors of GC discontinuation. Sensitivity analysis (545 cases) confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS RA patients receiving CM face difficulties in following guideline-recommended GC discontinuation protocols. IM can promote GC discontinuation and is a promising strategy to reduce GC dependency in RA management. (Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT05219214).
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Retrospective Studies

Direct electrical stimulation of the human cortex can produce subjective visual sensations, yet these sensations are unstable. The underlying mechanisms may stem from differences in electrophysiological activity within the distributed network outside the stimulated site. To address this problem, we recruited 69 patients who experienced visual sensations during invasive electrical stimulation while intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) data were recorded. We found significantly flattened power spectral slopes in distributed regions involving different brain networks and decreased integrated information during elicited visual sensations compared with the non-sensation condition. Further analysis based on minimum information partitions revealed that the reconfigured network interactions primarily involved the inferior frontal cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and temporoparietal junction. The flattened power spectral slope in the inferior frontal gyrus was also correlated with integrated information. Taken together, this study indicates that the altered electrophysiological signatures provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying subjective visual sensations.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Visual Perception/physiology* ; Electric Stimulation ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Electrocorticography ; Electroencephalography ; Brain Mapping

Objective To evaluate the value of high-throughput sequencing(HTS)data reanalysis that does not include ERBB2 copy number variation(CNV)analysis,in identifying ERBB2 amplification in patients with colorectal cancer.Methods The HTS data of 252 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed by pathological biopsy who received peripheral blood cfDNA HTS detection samples were retrospectively analyzed.According to the HTS data of ERBB2 non-amplified samples judged by immunohistochemistry(IHC)and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH),the number of chromosome 17(Chr17)reads in the total number of reads was calculated the range of the ratio was initially determined as the threshold for prompting ERBB2 amplification.Suspected positive samples were screened according to thresholds and verified by digital PCR,IHC and FISH.Results The proportion of the number of Chr17 reads accounts for the number of total reads in the 89 cases of ERBB2 non-amplified samples determined by IHC and/or FISH ranged from 0.188 to 0.299(0.239±0.192).Using 0.298(1.25 times the mean)as the threshold indicating ERBB2 amplification,the data of 163 samples were analyzed,of which 7 cases were suspected to be positive,and the ratio ranged from 0.302 to 0.853.Among them,5 cases were determined to be positive by IHC and/or FISH,and 6 cases were confirmed to be positive by digital PCR.The ratio of the number of Chr17 reads to the number of total reads was positively correlated with the ratio of ERBB2/EIF2C1,and the correlation was good(r2=0.909).Conclusion The high-throughput sequencing data that does not cover the ERBB2 CNV analysis has a certain hint value for ERBB2 amplification in patients with colorectal cancer.

ObjectiveThe scale of microalgae farming industry is huge. During farming, it is easy for microalgae to be affected by miscellaneous bacteria and other contaminants. Because of that, periodic test is necessary to ensure the growth of microalgae. Present microscopy imaging and spectral analysis methods have higher requirements for experiment personnel, equipment and sites, for which it is unable to achieve real-time portable detection. For the purpose of real-time portable microalgae detection, a real-time microalgae detection system of low detection requirement and fast detection speed is needed. MethodsThis study has developed a microalgae detection system based on deep learning. A microscopy imaging device based on bright field was constructed. With imaged captured from the device, a neural network based on YOLOv3 was trained and deployed on microcomputer, thus realizing real-time portable microalgae detection. This study has also improved the feature extraction network by introducing cross-region residual connection and attention mechanism and replacing optimizer with Adam optimizer using multistage and multimethod strategy. ResultsWith cross-region residual connection, the mAP value reached 0.92. Compared with manual result, the detection error was 2.47%. ConclusionThe system could achieve real-time portable microalgae detection and provide relatively accurate detection result, so it can be applied to periodic test in microalgae farming.

The Piezo protein is a non-selective mechanosensitive cation channel that exhibits sensitivity to mechanical stimuli such as pressure and shear stress. It converts mechanical signals into bioelectric activity within cells, thus triggering specific biological responses. In the digestive system, Piezo protein plays a crucial role in maintaining normal physiological activities, including digestion, absorption, metabolic regulation, and immune modulation. However, dysregulation in Piezo protein expression may lead to the occurrence of several pathological conditions, including visceral hypersensitivity, impairment of intestinal mucosal barrier function, and immune inflammation.Therefore, conducting a comprehensive review of the physiological functions and pathological roles of Piezo protein in the digestive system is of paramount importance. In this review, we systematically summarize the structural and dynamic characteristics of Piezo protein, its expression patterns, and physiological functions in the digestive system. We particularly focus on elucidating the mechanisms of action of Piezo protein in digestive system tumor diseases, inflammatory diseases, fibrotic diseases, and functional disorders. Through the integration of the latest research findings, we have observed that Piezo protein plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various digestive system diseases. There exist intricate interactions between Piezo protein and multiple phenotypes of digestive system tumors such as proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. In inflammatory diseases, Piezo protein promotes intestinal immune responses and pancreatic trypsinogen activation, contributing to the development of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and pancreatitis. Additionally, Piezo1, through pathways involving co-action with the TRPV4 ion channel, facilitates neutrophil recruitment and suppresses HIF-1α ubiquitination, thereby mediating organ fibrosis in organs like the liver and pancreas. Moreover, Piezo protein regulation by gut microbiota or factors like age and gender can result in increased or decreased visceral sensitivity, and alterations in intestinal mucosal barrier structure and permeability, which are closely associated with functional disorders like irritable bowel sydrome (IBS) and functional consitipaction (FC). A thorough exploration of Piezo protein as a potential therapeutic target in digestive system diseases can provide a scientific basis and theoretical support for future clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Objective To develop a portable collection device of human exhaled breath condensate(EBC)based on natural breathing to meet the needs for rapid screening of human respiratory tract(especially lower respiratory tract)infections.Methods The device consisted of a refrigeration unit,a heat dissipation unit and a condensation unit.The refrigeration unit adopted a TES1-7102 thermoelectric Peltier cooler semiconductor as the refrigeration element;the heat dissipation unit was composed of a high thermal conductivity aluminum heat sink and a high-speed brushless cooling fan;the condensation unit was made up of a cold guide plate and a condenser,in which the cold guide plate was made of thin sheet of aluminum alloy,and the condenser was prepared by 3D printing technology and made of hydrophobic polylactic acid,with primary and secondary 2-stage guide grooves and an ultra-thin condensing surface.The performance of the device was verified in terms of cooling,thermal conductivity,condensation and human EBC collection and content analysis.Results Performance analysis showed that after refrigeration began the temperature difference between the condenser surface and the exhaled gas met the requirements of the condenser,and no obvious thermal resistance was found on the condensing surface so that large droplets could be formed rapidly and then be collected after the gas-liquid phase change of the exhaled gas on the condensing surface.Human EBC collection and content analysis indicated the device realized home self-collection of EBCs from people of all ages,and the concentrations of interleukins,C-reactive protein and other inflammation-related indexes and the pH value of the collected EBC samples were all correlated with respiratory infections in the subjects.Conclusion The device developed with easy operation avoids the discomfort of blowing collection and the risk of saliva contamination,and is worthy promoting for rapid diagnosis and dynamic monitoring of respiratory tract infection and other related diseases.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(8):32-37]

Objective:To explore the mechanism of hypertension inducing erectile dysfunction(ED)using transcriptomics and network pharmacology.Methods:We randomly divided 12 male rats with spontaneous hypertension(SHT)into an L-arginine(LA)group(n=6)and an SHT model control(MC)group(n=6),took another 6 Wistar Kyoto male rats as normal controls(NC),and treated the animals in the LA group by intraperitoneal injection of LA at 400 mg/kg and those in the latter two groups with physio-logical saline,once a day,all for 7 days.Then we observed the blood pressure and penile erection of the rats,and determined the ex-pressions of the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway-related proteins and mRNAs in different groups using ELISA,Western blot and RT-qPCR.Results:Transcriptomics combined with network pharmacology showed that the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway played a key role in hypertension-induced ED.In vivo animal experiments revealed a significantly lower frequency of penile erections in the MC than in the NC group(1.33±0.52 vs 2.67±0.51,P＜0.05).The protein expressions of eNOS,PKG and sGC were markedly de-creased in the model controls compared with those the normal controls(P＜0.05),but remarkably upregulated in the LA group com-pared with those in the MC group(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Hypertension decreases the expressions of eNOS,NO,sGC,cGMP and PKG proteins and the level of testosterone by inhibiting the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway,which consequently suppresses the relaxa-tion of the penile vascular smooth muscle and reduces erectile function.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of bone cement distribution on efficacy of residual back pain after percutaneous vertebra plasty(PVP). METHODS: From January 2017 to December 2020, a total of 65 cases with single segment osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fractures underwent parallel vertebroplasty surgery. On the basis of the postoperative X-ray films of bone cement distribution were divided into two groups. The bone cement was biased to the lateral side of the vertebral body (partial group, 20 cases), there were 9 males and 11 famales with an average age of (70.3±7.4) years old ranging from 60 to 84 years old. The bone cement was over the vertebral midline, and completely filled with contralateral vertebral body (bilateral group, 45 cases), there were 10 males and 35 famales with an average age of (70.7±8.0) years old ranging from 60 to 86 years old. All of them underwent PVP surgery, bone cement was injected into the vertebral body through paitail transpedicular approach. The amount of bone cement injection, the visual analogue scale(VAS) of preoperation and 1 day, 1 month, 3 months after surgery between two groups were observed and compared. RESULTS: The amount of cement injection was (4.25±0.99) ml in the partial group, and (4.07±1.18) ml in the bilateral group, there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). Postoperative pain was relieved than preoperative pain (P<0.05), the VAS of 1 day, 1 and 3 months after operation (3.90±1.37), (2.35±0.67) and (1.55±0.51) in the partial group were higher than (2.67±0.60), (1.62±0.58) and (1.31±0.47) in the bilateral group (P<0.05). There were 9 cases in partial group, the pain was not relieved due to unfilled cement until the contralateral bone was injected into the bone cement. CONCLUSION The distribution of bone cement is one of the main factors affecting residual back pain after PVP, and in the clinical, we should make sure the distribution of bone cement over the midline of vertebral body.
Humans ; Bone Cements ; Aged ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Vertebroplasty/methods* ; Back Pain/etiology* ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery* ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Thoracic Vertebrae/surgery*

Objective: To evaluate the secondary attack rates of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and the associated factors. Methods: A total of 328 primary cases and 40 146 close contacts of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant routinely detected in local areas of Jiangsu Province from February to April 2022 were selected in this study, and those with positive nucleic acid test results during 7 days of centralized isolation medical observation were defined as secondary cases. The demographic information and clinical characteristics were collected, and the secondary attack rate (SAR) and the associated factors were analyzed by using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results: A total of 1 285 secondary cases of close contacts were reported from 328 primary cases, with a SAR of 3.2% (95%CI: 3.0%-3.4%). Among the 328 primary cases, males accounted for 61.9% (203 cases), with the median age (Q₁, Q₃) of 38.5 (27, 51) years old. Among the 1 285 secondary cases, males accounted for 59.1% (759 cases), with the median age (Q₁, Q₃) of 34 (17, 52) years old. The multivariate logistic regression model showed that the higher SAR was observed in the primary male cases (OR=1.632, 95%CI: 1.418-1.877), younger than 20 years old (OR=1.766, 95%CI: 1.506-2.072),≥60 years old (OR=1.869, 95%CI: 1.476-2.365), infected with the BA.2 strain branch (OR=2.906, 95%CI: 2.388-3.537), the confirmed common cases (OR=2.572, 95%CI: 2.036-3.249), and confirmed mild cases (OR=1.717, 95%CI: 1.486-1.985). Meanwhile, the higher SAR was observed in the close contacts younger than 20 years old (OR=2.604, 95%CI: 2.250-3.015),≥60 years old (OR=1.287, 95%CI: 1.052-1.573) and exposure for co-residence (OR=27.854, 95%CI: 23.470-33.057). Conclusion: The sex and age of the primary case of the Omicron variant, the branch of the infected strain, case severity of the primary case, as well as the age and contact mode of close contacts are the associated factors of SAR.
Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Adult ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Incidence ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Logistic Models