Objective To investigate the effect of circular RNA(circRNA)ACAP2 on myocardial injury in MI rats by regulating the miR-421/B cell translocation gene 2(BTG2)axis.Methods A rat MI model and an H9c2 myocardial cell model were constructed.A total of 80 rats were divided into sham operation group,MI group,small interfering RNA-negative control(si-NC)group,si-circACAP2 group,overexpression control(pcDNA3.1)group,pCDNA3.1-circACAP2 group,pCDNA3.1-circACAP2+mimic NC group,and pCDNA3.1-circACAP2+miR-421 mimic group,with 10 rats in each group.H9c2 cells were divided into hypoxia group,hypoxia+si-NC group,hypoxia+si-circACAP2 group,hypoxia+pcDNA3.1 group,hypoxia+pcDNA3.1 circACAP2 group,hypoxia+pcDNA3.1 circACAP2+mimic NC group,hypoxia+pcDNA3.1 circACAP2+miR-421 mimic group,and control group.LVEF,LVFS,myocardial infarction,pathological chan-ges of myocardial tissue,and circACAP2,miR-421 and BTG2 mRNA expression,LDH,CK-MB activity,H9c2 cardiomyocyte viability and apoptosis,BTG2 protein expression in myocardial tis-sue,and BTG2 protein expression in H9c2 cardiomyocytes were detected in each group.Results Compared with the sham operation group,higher mRNA levels of circACAP2(1.84±0.21 vs 1.00±0.10)and BTG2(1.68±0.17 vs 1.00±0.10),larger infarct size,stronger activities of CK-MB and LDH,while decreased expression of miR-421(0.49±0.05 vs 1.00±0.11)and LVFS and LVEF values were observed in the MI group(P＜0.05).Compared with the si-NC group,the si-circACAP2 group had alleviated myocardial injury,increased LVFS and LVEF values,and decreased infarct size and CK-MB and LDH activities(P＜0.05).Significantly increased cell via-bility,and reduced apoptotic rate and CK-MB and LDH activities were observed in the hypoxia+si-circACAP2 group than the hypoxia+si-NC group(P＜0.05).Compared with the pcDNA3.1 group,myocardial injury was aggravated,LVFS and LVEF were decreased,and infarct size and CK-MB and LDH activities were increased in the pcDNA3.1-circACAP2 group(P＜0.05);Com-pared with the hypoxia+pcDNA3.1 group,the hypoxia+PCDNA3.1-circACAP2 group signifi-cantly decreased cell viability,and enhanced apoptotic rate and CK-MB and LDH activities(P＜0.05).Conclusion circACAP2 is up-regulated in MI rats and H9c2 cells,and silencing circACAP2 may improve cardiac function,reduce myocardial injury,and increase cardiomyocyte viability by regulating miR-421/BTG2 axis.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of monkeypox patients.Methods:The clinical data and laboratory findings of 4 patients with monkeypox patients diagnosed at Yiwu Central Hospital in July 2023 were analyzed. Herpes fluid and skin tissue samples were collected, the viruses were isolation and cultured in African green monkey kidney cells (Vero) and identified with whole gene sequencing.Results:All four patients were male, aged 24-35 years. All patients had male-to-male behavior within 21 days before onset of the disease. Among them, one patient has AIDS and one patient has syphilis. Four patients presented with perineal skin lesions with itching, and 3 patients were found to have enlarged lymph nodes upon admission. Laboratory testing: lymphocyte abnormality (4.57×10 9/L) in 1 case; increased procalcitonin (0.25 ng/mL) in 1 case; elevated IL-10 levels ( 7.11 ng/L and 9.42 ng/L) in 2 cases; increased IL-6 (66 ng/L) and IL-4 (3.24 ng/L) in 1 case, respectively. One case had abnormal myocardial zymogram with a elevated lactate dehydrogenase level of 313 U/L. The monkeypox virus was isolated from lesion tissue and herpes fluid, and the whole gene sequencing identified it as the B. 1.3 subtype of the IIb evolutionary branch, exhibiting typical pathological effects on Vero cells. Conclusion:The clinical manifestations of the 4 monkeypox patients confirmed in Zhejiang province are mild, patients had a definitive history of male-to-male sexual behavior and the virus strains belong to the B. 1.3 lineage of the IIb evolutionary branch.

Objective:To evaluate the safety of discontinuing nucleoside/nucleoside analogue (NAs) therapy in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis after HBsAg negative conversion.Methods:A total of 3 783 patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis in compensated stage were treated with NAs at Taizhou Hospital, Taizhou Municipal Hospital and Taizhou Enze Hospital from January 2008 to December 2020. The clinical data and laboratory tests results of 85 patients with HBsAg negative conversion were retrospectively analyzed, including 36 cases discontinued the drug, and 49 continued to use drug. Chi-square test and rank-sum test were used for data analysis.Results:During the 24 and 48 months of follow-up, the ALT levels were within the normal range in both groups. There were no significant differences in positive rates of anti-HBs and HBeAg ( χ2=0.75, 0.39 and 0.90, P=0.78 0.84 and 0.34; χ2=0.40, 0.00 and 0.00, P=0.84, 1.00 and 1.00) between two groups. After 48 months of follow-up, 2 cases of primary liver cancer occurred in the discontinuation group and no primary liver cancer occurred in the continuation group ( χ2=0.89, P=0.34). Throughout the follow-up, HBsAg remained negative and HBV DNA load was below the lower limit of detection in both groups. Conclusions:Discontinuation of NAs can be considered after the HBsAg negative conversion in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis.

Due to the special physiological and pathological characteristics of gliomas, most therapeutic drugs are prevented from entering the brain. To improve the poor prognosis of existing therapies, researchers have been continuously developing non-invasive methods to overcome barriers to gliomas therapy. Although these strategies can be used clinically to overcome the blood‒brain barrier (BBB), the accurate delivery of drugs to the glioma lesions cannot be ensured. Nano-drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been widely used for precise drug delivery. In recent years, researchers have gathered their wisdom to overcome barriers, so many well-designed NDDS have performed prominently in preclinical studies. These meticulous designs mainly include cascade passing through BBB and targeting to glioma lesions, drug release in response to the glioma microenvironment, biomimetic delivery systems based on endogenous cells/extracellular vesicles/protein, and carriers created according to the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines. We reviewed these well-designed NDDS in detail. Furthermore, we discussed the current ongoing and completed clinical trials of NDDS for gliomas therapy, and analyzed the challenges and trends faced by clinical translation of these well-designed NDDS.

Objective:To summarize the evidence of non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis in prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) .Methods:The Chinese and English literature databases were searched by computer to select the literature on the non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis in prostate cancer patients with ADT. The retrieval time limit was from the establishment of the database to January 10, 2022. The included articles were summarized after quality evaluation.Results:A total of 9 articles were included, involving 3 expert consensus, 4 systematic reviews, 1 best clinical practice and 1 randomized controlled trial. A total of 35 pieces of evidence were extracted and summarized into 6 categories including risk assessment, nutrition support, exercise, health education, follow-up and monitoring, and remote intervention.Conclusions:This study can provide evidence basis for clinical practice of non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis in prostate cancer patients with ADT. However, the evidence transformation should be flexibly applied in combination with the medical background of our country and the individual conditions of patients.

Chloroquine (CQ) phosphate has been suggested to be clinically effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To develop a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for predicting tissue distribution of CQ and apply it to optimize dosage regimens, a PBPK model, with parameterization of drug distribution extrapolated from animal data, was developed to predict human tissue distribution of CQ. The physiological characteristics of time-dependent accumulation was mimicked through an active transport mechanism. Several dosing regimens were proposed based on PBPK simulation combined with known clinical exposure-response relationships. The model was also validated by clinical data from Chinese patients with COVID-19. The novel PBPK model allows in-depth description of the pharmacokinetics of CQ in several key organs (lung, heart, liver, and kidney), and was applied to design dosing strategies in patients with acute COVID-19 (Day 1: 750 mg BID, Days 2-5: 500 mg BID, CQ phosphate), patients with moderate COVID-19 (Day 1: 750 mg and 500 mg, Days 2-3: 500 mg BID, Days 4-5: 250 mg BID, CQ phosphate), and other vulnerable populations (.., renal and hepatic impairment and elderly patients, Days 1-5: 250 mg BID, CQ phosphate). A PBPK model of CQ was successfully developed to optimize dosage regimens for patients with COVID-19.

ObjectiveTo investigate the association of the expression of the NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D, its ligand major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA), and related cytokines ［interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-15 (IL-15)］ with intrahepatic inflammation in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). MethodsLiver biopsy specimens were collected from 30 patients with PBC (PBC group), 15 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB group), and 10 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD group), who were hospitalized in The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from August 2014 to June 2015. The degree of liver inflammation (G) and fibrosis degree (S) of the liver specimens were determined, and immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expression of NKG2D, MICA, IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-15 in liver tissue (the scores were determined based on the number of cells stained and the degree of staining to evaluate the expression of each marker). A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the t-test was used for comparison between two groups; a Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate correlation. ResultsIn the PBC group, the expression of NKG2D increased with the degree of inflammation, and the patients with G3-4 inflammation had significantly higher expression than those with G1-2 inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3 vs G4: 1.4±0.05 vs 1.56±0.05 vs 1.86±0.11 vs 2.60±0.17, F=150.8, P＜0.05); the expression of NKG2D decreased with fibrosis degree (S3 vs S4: 2.30±0.17 vs 1.56±0.05, t=-1.52, P＜0.05). In the PBC group, there was no significant difference in MICA between G3 and G4 (0.11±0.01 vs 0.20±0.03, t=-2.20, P＞0.05) and between S3 and S4 (0.12±0.02 vs 0.18±0.03, t=-2.64, P＞0.05). In the PBC group, there was a significant difference in the expression of IL-15 between the patients with different degrees of inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3 vs G4: 0.70±0.10 vs 1.50±0.10 vs 1.93±0.11 vs 2.60±0.17, F=251.3, P＜0.05), while there was no significant difference between the patients with different fibrosis degrees (S3 vs S4: 2.00±0.05 vs 2.40±0.30, t=-1.62, P＞0.05). In the CHB group, there was a significant difference in the expression of IL-15 between the patients with different degrees of inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3: 0.73±0.15 vs 1.96±0.15 vs 2.50±0.17, F=150, P＜0.05) and between the patients with different fibrosis degrees (S1 vs S2 vs S3: 0.70±0.10 vs 21.96±0.15 vs 2.50±0.17, F=158.7, P＜0.05). In the PBC group, the expression of IL-10 was only observed in the patients with G1 inflammation (0.16±0.01), and in the CHB group, the expression of IL-10 was observed in the patients with G1 and G2 inflammation, with no significant difference (G1 vs G2: 0.19±0.01 vs 0.13±0.01, t=-1.522, P＞0.05). In the patients with PBC, the expression of IL-15 in liver tissue was positively correlated with the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) (r=0.241 and 0.407, P=0.014 and 0.045). ConclusionThe NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D affects the degree of intrahepatic inflammation in PBC, and the NKG2D ligand MICA is expressed in the advanced stage of PBC and can downregulate NKG2D. The expression of IL-15 increases with the degree of inflammation in PBC and is positively correlated with the levels of ALP and GGT, suggesting that the activation of NK cells and abnormal secretion of cytokines are involved in the development and progression of PBC and IL-15 may be used as an auxiliary index for the diagnosis of PBC.

Objective:Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been used in the diagnosis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) successfully, but there have been no multicenter prospective studies to verify its reliability or determine how to grade RDS with LUS findings.This study aimed to discuss the necessity and feasibility of using LUS findings to determine RDS grades through a multicenter prospective study.Methods:Every researcher participated in the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Course and receiving 3-6 months of lung ultrasound system training at the National Neonatal Lung Ultrasound Training Center.Patients between June 2018 and May 2020 who met the RDS ultrasound diagnostic criteria and had full available clinical data were included in this study.The LUS examination was completed immediately after the patients were admitted to the hospital.Some of them also underwent chest X-ray examination.Arterial blood gas analysis was completed immediately before or after the LUS ultrasound examination.RDS grading was performed according to the LUS findings and whether the patient had serious complications.Results:A total of 275 qualifying cases were included in this study, which included 220 premature infants and 55 full-term infants, and the primary RDS occurred in 117 cases (42.5%), and secondary RDS occurred in 158 cases (57.5%). LUS manifestations of RDS patients can be divided into three categories: (1)A ground-glass opacity sign: which could be found among 50 infants when they were admitted to the hospital (that was, at their first LUS examination). Twenty-eight of these infants were considered to have wet lungs and were not sent for special management on admission, but LUS showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation within 0.5 to 4 hours.Twenty-two of them were given mechanical ventilation with exogenous pulmonary surfactant; Eighteen cases were controlled within 6-12 hours, but the lung lesions became more severe in the other 4 infants (due to severe intrauterine infection). (2)Snowflake-like lung consolidations: the first LUS on admission showed typical snowflake-like lung consolidation involving areas ranging from 1-2 intercostal spaces to 12 lung divisions in 204 cases.Thirty-eight infants among them the lung consolidation only had involvement of 1-2 intercostal spaces at the time of admission; Fifteen of them received invasive respiratory support and recovered within 4-12 hours.Twelve patients received noninvasive respiratory support; Seven of them recovered, while five cases developed severe lung illness.The remaining 11 patients who were not given any form of ventilator support developed severe conditions within 1-4 hours.Thirty of them showed snowflake signs involving 12 lung regions at admission.The remaining 136 patients had lung consolidation degree between the two degree above condition.(3)Snowflake-like sign with complications: Twenty-one patients had severe complications such as pneumothorax, pulmonary hemorrhage or/and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn or large area atelectasis, etc, although snowflake lung consolidation did not involve all lung regions.Conclusion:(1) LUS is reliable and accurate for diagnosing RDS.RDS has the same characteristics on ultrasound for both preterm and full-term infants, both primary and secondary RDS.(2) To facilitate the management of RDS, it is necessary to classify RDS according to the ultrasound findings and the presence of severe complications.(3) Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that RDS can be divided into mild, moderate and severe degrees.The exact standards for grading are as follows: Mild RDS: the early stage of RDS, in which lung consolidation shows as a ground-glass opacity sign on ultrasound; Moderate RDS: lung consolidation shows a snowflake sign on ultrasound, not all of the lung fields are involved; Severe RDS meets one or more of the following criteria: lung consolidation shows as a snowflake sign on ultrasound and all lung regions are involved, or regardless of its degree and extent, lung consolidation has caused serious complications, such as pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumothorax, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, or/and a large area of pulmonary atelectasis.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of low-dose of ionizing radiation on thyroid function of medical occupational group with long-term exposure; furthermore; we analyzed the relationship between the thyroid hormones and the risk factors; such as exposure length; department. Ultimately; providing the scientific basis for setting the ionizing radiation protection standards. Methods: The population who engaged radiodiagnosis and radiotherapy in a tertiary-A hospital were set up as occupational exposure; 724 medical professionals as the research object. We figured out the basic information and general condition of the groups by face-to-face questionnaire survey; By means of the thyroid hormone testing; we analyzed the thyroid hormone levels with different population; occupational exposure factors. Then; obtained the prevalence of thyroid nodules by the thyroid ultrasound. Besides; we used the logistic regression model to analyze the risk factors related to thyroid nodule. Applying Epidata、Excel in data management. All the data was analyzed by statistical software package Stata12.0. Descriptive statistics; single factor analysis of variance and other statistical methods were used for data analysis. Test standard: α=0.05、P<0.05 statistical significant. Results: 1. Based on the work experience; we divided the study population into four groups; such as 1-9; 10-19; 20-29; and>30 years. The difference of the TSH level among the four groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) . 2. The multiple logistic regression showed that sex and seniority were the independent risk factors for the abnormal rate of thyroid nodules. Conclusion Long-term exposure to low-dose ionizing radiatiom could induce the thyroid damage of medical occupational population; which should be broader concerned.

OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of rhei radix and astragali radix on renal protection and intestinal barrier function in rats with chronic renal failure(CRF),and analyze its pharmacological mechanism from the theory of"gut-renal axis"in TCM. METHODS:Rat models of CRF were established by 5/6 nephrectomy. Rats were randomly divided into sham operations group (group J,n=6),model group(group M,n=8),and administration groups(n=9),which included benazepril group(group Y, positive control,2 mg/kg),rhei radix high-dose,medium-dose,low-dose groups(group DH,DM,DL,calculated by crude drug as 3,1.5,0.75 g/kg),and astragali radix high-dose,medium-dose,low-dose groups (group HH,HM,HL,calculated by crude drug as 6,3,1.5 g/kg). After 1 week of modeling,rats in each administration group were intragastrically administrated,once a day,for 5 weeks. Rats in group J,M were intragastrically administrated equal volume distilled water. After 12 h of administration, the 24 h urine protein(Upr),serum levels of creatinine(SCr),urea nitrogen(BUN),uric acid(UA)and plasma endotoxin level were detected,and kidney index was calculated. Changes in renal tissue,villi of small intestinal mucosal tissue and crypt depth were observed by microscope. RESULTS:Compared with group J,24 h urine volume and 24 h water drinking volume of rats in group M were increased,24 h Upr,serum levels of SCr,BUN,UA,plasma endotoxin level,and kidney index were increased, with statistical significances(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Most glomerular volume were increased and rigid in group M,showing intersti-tial infiltration in large number of inflammatory cells;villus length,villus width,mucosal thickness and villus length/crypt depth ra-tio of intestinal mucosa were decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01),and crypt depth was increased (P<0.01). Compared with group M,24 h urine volume in group DM,DL,HM,HL was decreased;24 h water drinking volume in group HM was decreased;24 h Upr,serum levels of SCr,BUN levels,and kidney index of rats in each administration group were decreased. Except for group HH,serum UA levels in other administration groups was decreased;and except for group HH,HM,HL,plasma endotoxin level in other administration groups was decreased,with statistical significances(P<0.05 or P<0.01). The pathological morphologies of renal tissue,intestinal mucosal tissue and intestinal villi in each administration group were improved to varying degrees. CONCLU-SIONS:Both rhei radix and astragali radix can effectively reduce the metabolic toxin levels of rats,improve filtration function of glomerular and enhance the exclusion of metabolic trash,which may be restoring the intestinal function to achieve the goal of treat-ing CRF. And both show optimal effect in medium dose.