OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at investigating the carrier rate of, and molecular variation in, α- and β-globin gene mutations in Hunan Province. METHODS: We recruited 25,946 individuals attending premarital screening from 42 districts and counties in all 14 cities of Hunan Province. Hematological screening was performed, and molecular parameters were assessed. RESULTS: The overall carrier rate of thalassemia was 7.1%, including 4.83% for α-thalassemia, 2.15% for β-thalassemia, and 0.12% for both α- and β-thalassemia. The highest carrier rate of thalassemia was in Yongzhou (14.57%). The most abundant genotype of α-thalassemia and β-thalassemia was -α ^3.7/αα (50.23%) and β ^IVS-II-654/β ^N (28.23%), respectively. Four α-globin mutations [CD108 (ACC>AAC), CAP +29 (G>C), Hb Agrinio and Hb Cervantes] and six β-globin mutations [CAP +8 (C>T), IVS-II-848 (C>T), -56 (G>C), beta nt-77 (G>C), codon 20/21 (-TGGA) and Hb Knossos] had not previously been identified in China. Furthermore, this study provides the first report of the carrier rates of abnormal hemoglobin variants and α-globin triplication in Hunan Province, which were 0.49% and 1.99%, respectively. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates the high complexity and diversity of thalassemia gene mutations in the Hunan population. The results should facilitate genetic counselling and the prevention of severe thalassemia in this region.
Humans ; beta-Thalassemia/genetics* ; alpha-Thalassemia/genetics* ; Hemoglobinopathies/genetics* ; China/epidemiology* ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing

Aim To investigate the neuroprotective effect of prophylactic administration of salidroside (Sal) on MCAO rats. Methods A total of 52 SD adult male rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (Sham), model group (MCAO) and salidroside pre-administration group (MCAO + Sal). The dose of Sal was 50 mg·kg

Simiao Yong'an Decoction is a classic prescription for treating gangrene. Modern medical evidence has proven that Si-miao Yong'an Decoction has therapeutic effects on atherosclerosis(AS), vascular occlusion angeitides, and hypertension, while its pharmacodynamic mechanism remains unclear. The evidence of network pharmacology, molecular docking, literature review, and our previous study suggests that luteolin and kaempferol are two major flavonoids in Simiao Yong'an Decoction and can inhibit macrophage inflammation and exert anti-AS effects. However, due to lack of the metabolism studies in vivo, little is known about the metabolic characteristics of luteolin and kaempferol. This study employed ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry(UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS/MS) and relevant software to identify the metabolites and metabolic pathways of luteolin and kaempferol in rat plasma, urine, and feces, after oral administration of luteolin and kaempferol, respectively. After the administration of luteolin, 10, 11, and 3 metabolites of luteolin were detected in the plasma, urine, and feces, respectively. After the administration of kaempferol, 9, 3, and 1 metabolites of kaempferol were detected in the plasma, urine, and feces, respectively. The metabolic pathways mainly involved methylation, glucuronidation, and sulfation. This study enriches the knowledge about the pharmacological mechanism of luteolin and kaempferol and supplies a reference for revealing the metabolic process of other flavonoids in Simiao Yong'an Decoction, which is of great significance for elucidating the pharmacological effects and effective substances of this decoction in vivo.
Rats ; Animals ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Luteolin/analysis* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Kaempferols/analysis* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Molecular Docking Simulation

Objective:To analyze the costs and effectiveness of five common screening modes and genetic screening for thalassemia in China in order to find the optimal way and provide evidence for the implementation of thalassemia prevention and control projects in Hunan Province.Methods:From June 2020 to April 2021, 12 971 couples from 14 cities and autonomous prefectures in Hunan Province were selected as the study population. The diagnosis of thalassemia was based on the results of genetic testing. Results of routine blood test and hemoglobin electrophoresis were collected and analyzed. The efficacy of five screening modes, at the cut-off value of <80 fl or 82 fl for the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), was analyzed by positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Jorden index and cost-effectiveness ratio. Sensitivity analysis was used to assess the feasibility of genetic screening at different costs after fixing the costs of routine blood and hemoglobin electrophoresis. The five thalassemia screening models are as follows: Mode 1: The woman had a blood routine test first. If the result was positive, the spouse required a blood routine test. If both results were positive, a thalassemia gene test should be offered to the couple. Mode 2: Both husband and wife were screened by blood routine and hemoglobin electrophoresis. If one or both of them were positive, both would be tested for thalassemia gene. Mode 3: The couple received blood routine tests initially. If either was positive, both should receive hemoglobin electrophoresis testing. If either was positive, both parties will conduct thalassemia gene testing. Mode 4: The woman was screened by blood routine and hemoglobin electrophoresis. If any one of them was positive, the woman would be tested for thalassemia gene. If the gene test result was positive, the spouse should receive thalassemia gene. Mode 5: Both spouses conducted a blood routine test. If either was positive, both would conduct hemoglobin electrophoresis test. If both were positive, both spouses should receive thalassemia gene testing. Gene testing mode: The woman would be tested for thalassemia, and her spouse would have thalassemia test too if her result was positive.Results:When using MCV<80 fl as the cut-off for diagnosing thalassemia, the Youden indices of the five prenatal screening modes in Hunan Province were 0.551, 0.639, 0.898, 0.555 and 0.356, while when using MCV<82 fl as the cut-off, the Youden indices were 0.549, 0.629, 0.851, 0.548 and 0.356. When the MCV cut-off value was <80 fl, the missed diagnosis rates of the five screening modes were 44.44%, 0.00, 0.00, 18.52% and 62.96%, and the cost-effectiveness ratios were 21 709, 250 939, 76 870, 138 463 and 92 860 yuan (RMB)/couple, respectively. When the price of genetic testing was lower than 55 yuan (RMB), the cost-effectiveness ratio of genetic screening was lower than that of Mode 3.Conclusions:MCV<80 fl can be considered as the positive criteria in blood routine screening for thalassemia in Hunan Province, and the cost-effectiveness ratio of Mode 3 (the couple received blood routine tests initially. If either was positive, both should receive hemoglobin electrophoresis testing. If either was positive, both parties will conduct thalassemia gene testing) is the best. Genetic screening has certain advantages with the decreasing price.

An auxiliary isolation device of cupping therapy for cross-infection prevention is designed to reduce the disinfection steps and be against cross transmission. This device is composed of a disposable isolation unit made of fire proof plastic material and a disposable cup-mouth fixator made of elastic material. The disposable isolation unit includes two parts, the cup neck isolation unit and the inner isolation unit of fire cup. These two parts connect with the disposable cup-mouth fixator. All of those three sections of the device are center-connected ring-like structure. This device can well prevent the direct contact of fire cup with the patient's skin surface, characterized as safety protection, simple operation and saving time and manpower.
Cupping Therapy ; Humans

BACKGROUND: The current deep learning diagnosis of breast masses is mainly reflected by the diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions. In China, breast masses are divided into four categories according to the treatment method: inflammatory masses, adenosis, benign tumors, and malignant tumors. These categorizations are important for guiding clinical treatment. In this study, we aimed to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) for classification of these four breast mass types using ultrasound (US) images. METHODS: Taking breast biopsy or pathological examinations as the reference standard, CNNs were used to establish models for the four-way classification of 3623 breast cancer patients from 13 centers. The patients were randomly divided into training and test groups (n = 1810 vs. n = 1813). Separate models were created for two-dimensional (2D) images only, 2D and color Doppler flow imaging (2D-CDFI), and 2D-CDFI and pulsed wave Doppler (2D-CDFI-PW) images. The performance of these three models was compared using sensitivity, specificity, area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV), positive (LR+) and negative likelihood ratios (LR-), and the performance of the 2D model was further compared between masses of different sizes with above statistical indicators, between images from different hospitals with AUC, and with the performance of 37 radiologists. RESULTS: The accuracies of the 2D, 2D-CDFI, and 2D-CDFI-PW models on the test set were 87.9%, 89.2%, and 88.7%, respectively. The AUCs for classification of benign tumors, malignant tumors, inflammatory masses, and adenosis were 0.90, 0.91, 0.90, and 0.89, respectively (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 0.87-0.91, 0.89-0.92, 0.87-0.91, and 0.86-0.90). The 2D-CDFI model showed better accuracy (89.2%) on the test set than the 2D (87.9%) and 2D-CDFI-PW (88.7%) models. The 2D model showed accuracy of 81.7% on breast masses ≤1 cm and 82.3% on breast masses >1 cm; there was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001). The accuracy of the CNN classifications for the test set (89.2%) was significantly higher than that of all the radiologists (30%). CONCLUSIONS: The CNN may have high accuracy for classification of US images of breast masses and perform significantly better than human radiologists. TRIAL REGISTRATION Chictr.org, ChiCTR1900021375; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=33139.
Area Under Curve ; Breast/diagnostic imaging* ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; China ; Deep Learning ; Humans ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with KIT/PDGFRA "homozygous mutation", the efficacy of targeted therapy and the prognosis. Methods: A retrospective cohort study and propensity score matching were used. "Homozygous mutation" was defined as the detection of KIT/PDGFRA gene status of GIST by Sanger sequencing, which showed that there was only mutant gene sequence in the sequencing map, lack of wild-type sequence or the peak height of mutant gene sequence was much higher than that of wild-type gene sequence (> 3 times). "Heterozygous mutation" was defined as the mutant gene sequences coexisted with wild type gene sequences, and the peak height was similar (3 times or less). The clinicopathological data and follow-up information of 92 GIST patients with KIT/PDGFRA "homozygous mutation" were collected from 4 hospitals in Shanghai from January 2008 to May 2021 (Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine: 70 cases; Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University: 14 cases; Changhai Hospital, Naval Military Medical University: 6 cases and Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine: 2 cases). Patients with perioperative death, other malignancies, and incomplete clinicopathological information were excluded. The clinicopathological features of the patients and the efficacy of targeted drug therapy were observed and analyzed. The efficacy was evaluated using Choi criteria, which were divided into complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). In addition, a total of 230 patients with high-risk GIST with "heterozygous mutation" in exon 11 of KIT gene and 117 patients with recurrent or metastatic GIST with "heterozygous mutation" in exon 11 of KIT gene were included. The propensity score matching method was used to match GIST patients with "heterozygous" and "homozygous" mutations in exon 11 of KIT gene (1∶1) for survival analysis. The disease-free survival (DFS) between two groups of high-risk GIST patients who underwent complete surgical resection were compared. And progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with recurrent or metastatic GIST were compared. Results: Of the 92 GIST cases with KIT/PDGFRA "homozygous mutation", 58 were males and 34 were females, with a median onset age of 62 (31-91) years. Primary GIST 83 cases. Primary high-risk GIST (53 cases), metastatic GIST (21 cases) and recurrent GIST (9 cases) accounted for 90.2% (83/92). There were 90 cases of KIT gene"homozygous mutation" (exon 11 for 88 cases, exon 13 for 1 case, exon 17 for 1 case), and 2 cases of PDGFRA gene "homozygous mutation" (exon 12 for 1 case, exon 18 for 1 case). The median follow-up time was 49 (8-181) months. Among the 61 cases of primary localized GIST undergoing complete surgical resection, 2 cases were intermediate-risk GIST, 5 cases were low-risk GIST, and 1 case was very low-risk GIST, of whom 1 case of intermediate-risk GIST received 1-year adjuvant imatinib mesylate (IM) therapy after operation, and no tumor recurrence developed during the follow-up period. The remaining 53 cases were high-risk GIST, and follow-up data were obtained from 50 cases, of whom 22 developed tumor recurrence during follow-up. Of 9 patients directly receiving neoadjuvant targeted therapy (IM or avapritinib), 5 had complete imaging follow-up data, and the evaluation of efficacy achieved PR. Of all the 92 GIST cases with KIT/PDGFRA "homozygous mutation", 50 (54.4%) had tumor metastasis or tumor recurrence or progression during follow-up, and 12 (13.0%) died of the tumor. Survival analysis combined with propensity score showed that in 100 cases of high-risk GISTs with complete resection, GISTs with "homozygous mutation" in exon 11 of KIT gene had shorter disease-free survival (DFS) than GISTs with "heterozygous mutation" in exon 11 of KIT gene (median DFS: 72 months vs. 148 months, P=0.015). In 60 cases of recurrent or metastatic GISTs with KIT gene exon 11 mutation, IM was used as the first-line treatment, and the progression-free survival (PFS) of GISTs with "homozygous mutation" was shorter compared to GISTs with "heterozygous mutation" (median PFS: 38 months vs. 69 months, P=0.044). The differences were statistically significant. Conclusions: "Homozygous mutation" in KIT/PDGFRA gene is associated with the progression of GIST. The corresponding targeted therapeutic drugs are still effective for GIST with KIT/PDGFRA gene "homozygous mutation". Compared with GIST patients with "heterozygous mutation" in KIT exon 11, GIST patients with "homozygous mutation" in KIT exon 11 are more likely to relapse after surgery and to develop resistance to IM. Therefore, it is still necessary to seek more effective treatment methods for this subset of cases.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use* ; China ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors/genetics* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/genetics* ; Pyrazoles ; Pyrroles ; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha/genetics* ; Retrospective Studies ; Triazines

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of infection in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after high intensive chemotherapy， so as to provide reference for prevention and control of infection. METHODS: 56 children diagnosed as acute myeloid leukemia in our hospital from January 2016 to August 2019 were enrolled and retrospectively analyzed, the infection rate, pathogens of disease and common location of infection during the induction and consolidation period were analyzed. RESULTS: The total infection rate of the patients was 93.4%－96.4%, the average of serious infection rate was 16.0%(11.3%－19.6%), and the infection related mortality was 10.7%. Fever of unknown cause was the main reason of infection, while blood flow infections were the most common in severe infection, which were mainly caused by Gramnegative bacteria. The rate of fungal infection was 35.7% during chemotherapy. CONCLUSION Children with AML shows a high incidence of infection in each stage of chemotherapy. The serious illness caused by blood flow infection and take antifungal drugs to reduce the occurrence of fungal infection in AML patients should be paid attention.
Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use* ; Child ; Fever/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy* ; Mycoses/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies

Aim To study the neuroprotective effect of rhubarb extract on MCAO model rats and explore its mechanism of action. Methods Forty-five SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group, MCAO group, and MCAO + rhubarb group. MCAO model was prepared by silk plug method, and rhubarb extract was administered at a concentration of 200 mg · kg

Aim To investigate the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of salidroside (Sal) on rats with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion model (pMCAO) by regulating the PI3 K/AKT signaling pathway. Methods A total of 80 healthy adult SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (sham group), model group (pMCAO group), drug administration group (pMCAO + Sal group) and inhibitor group (pMCAO + Sal + YL group). After the pMCAO model rats were prepared by the line bolt method, salidroside (50 mg · kg