OBJECTIVE To study the inhibitory effect and mechanism of curcumin and its derivatives A and B on TGF-β induced LX-2 cell fibrosis. METHODS Established the liver fibrosis model of LX-2 cells induced by TGF-β(10 ng·mL−1).The effects on cell proliferation were detected by CCK-8. The effects on cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The effects on fibrosis related factors(Collagen I, Collagen Ⅳ, Fibronectin, Vimentin, α-SMA, PDGFRβ, TGFβR1, TGFβR2, MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1 and TIMP2) protein expression and gene transcription levels were detected by Western blotting and q-PCR. RESULTS The curcumin and its derivative A and B had the inhibition effects on normal LX-2 cells, and the IC25 values were 15.7, 2.6, 10.2 μmol·L−1, respectively. Compared to the model group, the curcumin(15.7 μmol·L−1) and its derivative A(2.6 μmol·L−1) and B(10.2 μmol·L−1) had the significant inhibition effects on cell proliferation of the TGF-β induced LX-2 cells(P<0.05). The cell apoptosis rate of curcumin derivative B group was higher than the model group(P<0.05). Collagen I, Fibronectin, Vimentin, α-SMA, TGFβR1 and TIMP-1 protein expression levels in curcumin group were lower, while the protein expression level of MMP-9 was higher(P<0.05). The protein expression levels of Collagen I, Collagen IV, Fibronectin, Vimentin, α-SMA, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in curcumin derivative A group were lower, while the protein expression level of MMP-2 was higher(P<0.05). The protein expression levels of Collagen I, Collagen IV, Fibronectin, Vimentin, α-SMA, PDGFRβ, TGFβR1, TGFβR2, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in curcumin derivative B group were lower, while the protein expression level of MMP-2 was higher(P<0.05). The gene transcription levels of Collagen I, Fibronectin, α-SMA and TIMP-1 in curcumin group were lower(P<0.05). The gene transcription levels of Collagen I, Fibronectin and α-SMA in curcumin derivative A and B groups were lower(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Curcumin and its derivatives A and B inhibit the abnormal activation and proliferation of TGF-β-induced LX-2 cells, inhibit the excessive secretion and accumulation of its extracellular matrix components, and promote its degradation, thus playing an anti-fibrotic effect in vitro, especially the curcumin derivative B.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of prolonged cytopenia (PC) in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) undergoing anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy.Methods:A retrospective case series study was conducted on LBCL patients who received CAR-T cell therapy with a survival time of over one month at the Hematology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from March 2019 to December 2023. Statistical analyses were performed on hematologic changes at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-CAR-T infusion, as well as on the progression-free survival (PFS) and post-treatment adverse events, including infections. Patients were categorized into the PC and non-PC groups based on the occurrence of cytopenia at 90 days post-infusion. Differences between groups were compared, and univariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors.Results:The median age of 27 LBCL patients receiving CAR-T cell therapy was 58 years (range 27-69 years), with 18 males. Among the 27 LBCL patients who received CAR-T cell therapy, PC was observed in 19 patients (70.4%), with instances of neutropenia (48.1%, 13 cases), anemia (37.0%, 10 cases), and thrombocytopenia (22.2%, 6 cases). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that prior chemotherapy sensitivity ( OR=18.00, 95% CI 1.56-207.45, P=0.020) and bone marrow suppression ( OR=18.00, 95% CI 1.38-235.69, P=0.028) were associated with PC. The median follow-up time was 13.5 months. The PC group exhibited a higher risk of infection within 3 months (9/19 vs. 1/8) and a shorter mean PFS (19.3 months vs. 24.4 months), although the difference was not statistically significant (both P>0.05). Conclusions:PC is common following CAR-T cell therapy and is associated with an increased risk of infection and poorer prognosis. Prior treatment sensitivity and bone marrow suppression may serve as indicators of PC.

Objective: This cross-sectional investigation aimed to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, prognosis, and related risk factors of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain in mainland China. Methods: Data of patients with SARS-CoV-2 from December 28, 2022, to February 21, 2023, were collected through online and offline questionnaires from 45 tertiary hospitals and one center for disease control and prevention in mainland China. The questionnaire included demographic information, previous health history, smoking and alcohol drinking, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, olfactory and gustatory function before and after infection, other symptoms after infection, as well as the duration and improvement of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction. The self-reported olfactory and gustatory functions of patients were evaluated using the Olfactory VAS scale and Gustatory VAS scale. Results: A total of 35 566 valid questionnaires were obtained, revealing a high incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain (67.75%). Females(χ2=367.013, P<0.001) and young people(χ2=120.210, P<0.001) were more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Gender(OR=1.564, 95%CI: 1.487-1.645), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), oral health status (OR=0.881, 95%CI: 0.839-0.926), smoking history (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.080-1.229), and drinking history (OR=0.854, 95%CI: 0.785-0.928) were correlated with the occurrence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2(above P<0.001). 44.62% (4 391/9 840) of the patients who had not recovered their sense of smell and taste also suffered from nasal congestion, runny nose, and 32.62% (3 210/9 840) suffered from dry mouth and sore throat. The improvement of olfactory and taste functions was correlated with the persistence of accompanying symptoms(χ2=10.873, P=0.001). The average score of olfactory and taste VAS scale was 8.41 and 8.51 respectively before SARS-CoV-2 infection, but decreased to3.69 and 4.29 respectively after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recovered to 5.83and 6.55 respectively at the time of the survey. The median duration of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was 15 days and 12 days, respectively, with 0.5% (121/24 096) of patients experiencing these dysfunctions for more than 28 days. The overall self-reported improvement rate of smell and taste dysfunctions was 59.16% (14 256/24 096). Gender(OR=0.893, 95%CI: 0.839-0.951), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), history of head and facial trauma(OR=1.180, 95%CI: 1.036-1.344, P=0.013), nose (OR=1.104, 95%CI: 1.042-1.171, P=0.001) and oral (OR=1.162, 95%CI: 1.096-1.233) health status, smoking history(OR=0.765, 95%CI: 0.709-0.825), and the persistence of accompanying symptoms (OR=0.359, 95%CI: 0.332-0.388) were correlated with the recovery of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 (above P<0.001 except for the indicated values). Conclusion: The incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain is high in mainland China, with females and young people more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Active and effective intervention measures may be required for cases that persist for a long time. The recovery of olfactory and taste functions is influenced by several factors, including gender, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, history of head and facial trauma, nasal and oral health status, smoking history, and persistence of accompanying symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Smell ; COVID-19/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Incidence ; Olfaction Disorders/etiology* ; Taste Disorders/etiology* ; Prognosis

To develop a caregiver parenting behavior scale for children aged 2 to 6 years, and to verify its reliability and validity. This study recruited 1 350 caregivers of children aged 2 to 6 years. The item discrimination analysis and exploratory factor analysis were used to analyze the structure, dimensions and items of the scale. Homogeneity reliability, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were used to analyze the reliability of the scale. Content validity and construct validity were used to analyze the validity of the scale. The results showed that the final scale contained 7 dimensions and 45 items. Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale was 0.945; the coefficient of split half was 0.899; the test-retest reliability analysis showed that the correlation coefficients between the two tests were 0.893 (total score), 0.854 (social), 0.832 (language), 0.871 (gross motor), 0.893 (fine motor), 0.862 (cognitive), 0.832 (self-care), and 0.872 (sensory). The content validity analysis was carried out by two rounds of expert argumentation using Delphi expert consultation method. The Kendall coefficient of the items score in two rounds of Delphi expert consultation was 0.813 (P<0.01). The structure validity analysis showed that there were significant correlations between each dimension and the total scale, also between each dimension of the scale, and the extracted average variance values of each dimension was greater than the correlation coefficients between this dimension and other dimensions. In conclusion, the reliability and validity of the scale are qualified. It can be used as a tool to evaluate and guide the parenting behavior of caregivers of children aged 2 to 6 years.
Humans ; Child ; Caregivers/psychology* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Parenting ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Psychometrics/methods*

As a recognized rare and highly fatal disease, hereditary angioedema (HAE) is difficult to diagnose and characterized by recurrent edema involving the head, limbs, genitals and larynx, etc. Diagnosis of HAE is not difficult. However, low incidence and lack of clinical characteristics lead to difficulty of doctors on timely diagnosis and correct intervention for HAE patients. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the awareness of this disease and prevent its recurrence. for HAE patients. In view of absent cognition of doctors and the general public on HAE, patients often suffer from sudden death or become disabled due to laryngeal edema which cannot be treated in time. Thus, based on the Internet mobile terminal platform, the team set up an all-day rapid emergency response system which is provided for HAE patients by setting up "one-click help". The aim is to offer optimization on overall management of HAE and designed the intelligent follow-up management to provide timely assistance and specialized suggestion for patients with acute attacks.
Humans ; Angioedemas, Hereditary/drug therapy*

Allergic diseases affect about 40% of the world's population. Environmental factors are important in the occurrence and development of allergic diseases. Dust mites are one of the most important allergens in the indoor environment. The World Health Organization proposes the "four-in-one, combination of prevention and treatment" treatment principle for allergic diseases, in which environmental control to avoid or reduce allergens is the first choice for treatment. Modern people spend much more time at home (including sleeping) than outdoors, and the control of the home environment is particularly critical. This practice introduces the hypoallergenic home visit program, which including home environment assessment, environmental and behavioral intervention guidance, and common household hypoallergenic supplies and service guidance for the patient's home environment. The real-time semi-quantitative testing of dust mite allergens, qualitative assessments of other indoor allergens, record of patients' household items and lifestyle, and precise, individualized patient prevention and control education will be conducted. The hypoallergenic home visit program improves the doctors' diagnosis and treatment data dimension, and becomes a patient management tool for doctors outside the hospital. It also helps patients continue to scientifically avoid allergens and irritants in the environment, effectively build a hypoallergenic home environment, reduce exposure to allergens in the home environment, and achieve the goal of combining the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases.
Humans ; Hospitals ; Life Style ; Sleep

As a recognized rare and highly fatal disease, hereditary angioedema (HAE) is difficult to diagnose and characterized by recurrent edema involving the head, limbs, genitals and larynx, etc. Diagnosis of HAE is not difficult. However, low incidence and lack of clinical characteristics lead to difficulty of doctors on timely diagnosis and correct intervention for HAE patients. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the awareness of this disease and prevent its recurrence. for HAE patients. In view of absent cognition of doctors and the general public on HAE, patients often suffer from sudden death or become disabled due to laryngeal edema which cannot be treated in time. Thus, based on the Internet mobile terminal platform, the team set up an all-day rapid emergency response system which is provided for HAE patients by setting up "one-click help". The aim is to offer optimization on overall management of HAE and designed the intelligent follow-up management to provide timely assistance and specialized suggestion for patients with acute attacks.
Humans ; Angioedemas, Hereditary/drug therapy*

Allergic diseases affect about 40% of the world's population. Environmental factors are important in the occurrence and development of allergic diseases. Dust mites are one of the most important allergens in the indoor environment. The World Health Organization proposes the "four-in-one, combination of prevention and treatment" treatment principle for allergic diseases, in which environmental control to avoid or reduce allergens is the first choice for treatment. Modern people spend much more time at home (including sleeping) than outdoors, and the control of the home environment is particularly critical. This practice introduces the hypoallergenic home visit program, which including home environment assessment, environmental and behavioral intervention guidance, and common household hypoallergenic supplies and service guidance for the patient's home environment. The real-time semi-quantitative testing of dust mite allergens, qualitative assessments of other indoor allergens, record of patients' household items and lifestyle, and precise, individualized patient prevention and control education will be conducted. The hypoallergenic home visit program improves the doctors' diagnosis and treatment data dimension, and becomes a patient management tool for doctors outside the hospital. It also helps patients continue to scientifically avoid allergens and irritants in the environment, effectively build a hypoallergenic home environment, reduce exposure to allergens in the home environment, and achieve the goal of combining the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases.
Humans ; Hospitals ; Life Style ; Sleep

Objective:To develop the Care Needs Scale for Young and Middle-aged Terminally Ill Patients and test its reliability and validity, so as to provide an effective tool for evaluating the care needs of young and middle-aged terminally ill patients for medical and nursing staff.Methods:This study is a cross-sectional study. Guided by the theory of supportive care needs, an initial scale was formed through literature review, qualitative interviews, Delphi expert consultation, and pre-survey. From July to September 2022, convenience sampling was used to select 570 young and middle-aged terminally ill patients hospitalized in the Oncology Department and Hospice Care Ward of six Class Ⅲ hospitals in Tianjin as the research subject, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on the patients. The items in the scale were selected using item analysis method. The structural validity of the scale was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The content validity of the scale was evaluated using the scale-level content validity index and the item-level content validity index. The reliability of the scale was evaluated using internal consistency coefficient and half reliability coefficient. A total of 570 questionnaires were distributed, and 565 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective response rate of 99.12% (565/570) .Results:A total of 18 experts completed two rounds of consultation, with an expert authority coefficient of 0.890, the Kendall's W values of 0.309 and 0.417, respectively ( P<0.05). The Care Needs Scale for Young and Middle-aged Terminally Ill Patients included 6 dimensions and a total of 39 items. Exploratory factor analysis extracted 6 common factors, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 71.515%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the overall model fitted well. The content validity index at the scale level was 0.942, and the content validity index at the item level was 0.833 to 1.000. The total Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.975, and the half reliability coefficient was 0.911. Conclusions:The reliability and validity of the Care Needs Scale for Young and Middle-aged Terminally Ill Patients are good, and it can be used as an evaluation tool for the care needs of young and middle-aged terminally ill patients.

Objective: To investigate the incidence and trend of short-term outcomes among preterm infants born <34 weeks' gestation. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from the standardized database established by a multicenter cluster-randomized controlled study "reduction of infection in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) using the evidence-based practice for improving quality (REIN-EPIQ) study". This study was conducted in 25 tertiary NICU. A total of 27 192 infants with gestational age <34 weeks at birth and admitted to NICU within the first 7 days of life from May 2015 to April 2018 were enrolled. Infants with severe congenital malformation were excluded. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the mortality and major morbidities of preterm infants by gestational age groups and different admission year groups. Cochran-Armitage test and Jonckheere-Terpstra test were used to analyze the trend of incidences of mortality and morbidities in 3 study-years. Multiple Logistic regression model was constructed to analyze the differences of outcomes in 3 study-years adjusting for confounders. Results: A total of 27 192 preterm infants were enrolled with gestational age of (31.3±2.0) weeks at birth and weight of (1 617±415) g at birth. Overall, 9.5% (2 594/27 192) of infants were discharged against medical advice, and the overall mortality rate was 10.7% (2 907/27 192). Mortality for infants who received complete care was 4.7% (1 147/24 598), and mortality or any major morbidity was 26.2% (6 452/24 598). The incidences of moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis, severe intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia, proven necrotizing enterocolitis, and severe retinopathy of prematurity were 16.0% (4 342/27 192), 11.9% (3 225/27 192), 6.8% (1 641/24 206), 3.6% (939/25 762) and 1.5% (214/13 868), respectively. There was a decreasing of the overall mortality (P<0.001) during the 3 years. Also, the incidences for sepsis and severe retinopathy of prematurity both decreased (both P<0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the major morbidity in preterm infants who received complete care during the 3-year study period (P=0.230). After adjusting for confounders, infants admitted during the third study year showed significantly lower risk of overall mortality (adjust OR=0.62, 95%CI 0.55-0.69, P<0.001), mortality or major morbidity, moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis and severe retinopathy of prematurity, compared to those admitted in the first study year (all P<0.05). Conclusions: From 2015 to 2018, the mortality and major morbidities among preterm infants in Chinese NICU decreased, but there is still space for further efforts. Further targeted quality improvement is needed to improve the overall outcome of preterm infants.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/epidemiology* ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Mortality/trends* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Premature, Diseases/epidemiology* ; Patient Discharge ; Retinopathy of Prematurity/epidemiology* ; Sepsis/epidemiology*