As the search for effective treatments for COVID-19 continues, the high mortality rate among critically ill patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU) presents a profound challenge. This study explores the potential benefits of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a supplementary treatment for severe COVID-19. A total of 110 critically ill COVID-19 patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Vulcan Hill Hospital between Feb., 2020, and April, 2020 (Wuhan, China) participated in this observational study. All patients received standard supportive care protocols, with a subset of 81 also receiving TCM as an adjunct treatment. Clinical characteristics during the treatment period and the clinical outcome of each patient were closely monitored and analysed. Our findings indicated that the TCM group exhibited a significantly lower mortality rate compared with the non-TCM group (16 of 81 vs 24 of 29; 0.3 vs 2.3 person/month). In the adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, TCM treatment was associated with improved survival odds (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the analysis also revealed that TCM treatment could partially mitigate inflammatory responses, as evidenced by the reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines, and contribute to the recovery of multiple organic functions, thereby potentially increasing the survival rate of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Humans ; COVID-19 ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Critical Illness ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To systematically sort out the interventional studies on the application of auricular point sticking technique in patients with urinary calculi by means of evidence map analysis in order to understand the distribution of evidence in this field and the problems of the studies. Methods Chinese and English databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, China Biology Medicine (CBM) Database, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL complete, Web of Science, Elsevier Science Direct, Embase, etc. were systematically searched to screen for studies related to the application of auricular point sticking technique in patients with urinary calculi. The time frame of the review was from the database construction to June 2024, and the trend of publication, type of literature, sample size in the literature, interventions, distribution of acupuncture points, outcome indexes, and methodological quality of the literature were analyzed by using graphs and text. Results A total of 79 papers were included, including 65 randomized controlled studies, 5 quasi-experimental study, and 9 studies with unclear grouping basis. The overall trend of the number of publications was increasing, and the average sample size was 103.37 patients. The most frequently selected auricular acupuncture points were kidney, ureter, sympathetic point, Shenmen, and bladder, etc., and the endpoint indicators of greater concern were clinical efficacy, pain relief, and stone expulsion, etc. The methodological quality of the literature was not high. Conclusion Auricular point sticking technique has certain advantages in the treatment of urinary calculi, and the selection of acupoints and outcome indicators are diverse. However, most studies have shortcomings in scientific research design, personalized intervention measures, measurement and analysis of outcome indicators, etc. Therefore, more scientific and rigorous large-scale, multi-center randomized controlled studies are needed in the future to provide high-quality evidence-based basis for the application of auricular point sticking technique in patients with urinary calculi.

Objective To investigate the effect of targeted silencing Notch1 on proliferation and apoptosis of human non-small cell lung cancer stem cells.Methods Lung cancer A549 cells and SPC-A-1 cells were selected and divided into control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group.The Nc-shRNA group was a negative control RNAi lentivirus group,and the Notch1-shRNA group was a Notch1 inhibitory RNAi lentivirus group.The lentiviral-mediated shRNA interference technology was used to target the silencing of Notch1.The silencing effect of Notch1 gene was verified by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting.Cell proliferation was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and sarcosphere formation assay.Apoptosis was detected by Annexin V/7-AAD double staining.Western blotting was used to detect the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA),B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Notch1 downstream gene Hes-1.Results The results of qRT-PCR showed that the relative expression levels of Notch1 in control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group in A549 cells and SPC-A-1 cells were 1.000 ± 0.000,0.937 ± 0.025,0.490 ± 0.036 and 1.000 ± 0.000,1.077 ± 0.070,0.373± 0.038,with statistically significant differences (F =359.707,P ＜0.001;F =210.455,P ＜0.001),further paired comparison,the relative expression of Notch1 in Notch1-shRNA group was significantly lower than that in Nc-shRNA group (all P ＜ 0.05).Western blotting showed that the expressions of Notch1 protein in A549 cells and SPC-A-1 cells were consistent with the mRNA results.MTT assay showed that the 24 h A values of A549 cells in control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group were 0.209 ± 0.005,0.219 ± 0.009,0.159 ±0.006,48 h A values were 0.293 ± 0.004,0.302 ± 0.004,0.205 ± 0.005,72 h A values were 0.450 ± 0.003,0.430 ± 0.012,0.348 ± 0.017,with statistically significant differences (F =79.487,P＜0.001;F =508.664,P ＜0.001;F =57.156,P ＜0.001),further paired comparison,the proliferation ability of Notch1-shRNA group was significantly lower than that of Nc-shRNA group at 24,48,72 h (all P ＜ 0.05).The 48 h A values of SPC-A-1 cells in control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group were 0.438 ±0.022,0.412 ± 0.015,0.364 ± 0.010,72h A values were 0.540 ± 0.016,0.519 ± 0.009,0.438 ± 0.019,with statistically significant differences (F =15.667,P =0.004;F =37.299,P ＜ 0.001),further paired comparison,the proliferation ability of Notch1-shRNA group was significantly lower than that of Nc-shRNA group at 48 h and 72 h (all P ＜ 0.05).The sphere sizes of control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group in A549 cells were (149.667 ± 6.506) μm,(136.667 ± 7.095) μm,(86.676 ± 7.638) μm,with statistically significant difference (F =65.940,P ＜ 0.001).The sphere sizes of the three groups in SPC-A-1 cells were (118.667 ± 6.658) μm,(128.000 ± 7.000) μm,(60.675 ± 4.509) μm,with statistically significant difference (F =105.372,P ＜0.001).Further paired comparison,the sphere size of Notch1shRNA group was significandy smaller than that of Nc-shRNA group in the two kinds of cells (all P ＜ 0.05).The apoptosis rates of control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group in A549 cells and SPC-A-1cells were (0.489 ± 0.014)％,(0.633 ± 0.021)％,(1.683 ± 0.221)％ and (1.323 ± 0.194)％,(1.690 ± 0.188) ％,(3.017 ± 0.356) ％,with statistically significant differences (F =77.660,P ＜ 0.001;F=32.200,P =0.001),further paired comparison,the apoptosis rate of Notch1-shRNA group was significantly higher than that of Nc-shRNA group in the two kinds of cells (all P ＜ 0.05).Western blotting showed that the expressions of PCNA,Bcl-2 and Hes-1 in control group,Nc-shRNA group and Notch1-shRNA group in A549 cells were statistically significant (F =155.343,P ＜ 0.001;F =22.576,P =0.002;F =70.108,P＜0.001),and the expressions of PCNA,Bcl-2 and Hes-1 in the three groups in SPC-A-1 cells were statistically significant (F =49.419,P ＜0.001;F =28.090,P =0.001;F =12.040,P =0.007).Further paired comparison,the expressions of PCNA,Bcl-2 and Hes-1 in Notch1-shRNA group were significantly lower than those in Nc-shRNA group in the two kinds of cells,and the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜0.05).Conclusion Targeted silencing of Notch1 can reduce the proliferation activity of lung cancer stem cells and promote apoptosis,which may be related to the down-regulation of its downstream gene Hes-1.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on inflammatory reaction of acute myocardial ischemia (MI) in mice, and to explore its action mechanism.

METHODSForty adult male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into a control group, a sham operation group, a model group and an EA group, 10 mice in each one. The model was established in the model group and EA group by ligating the left anterior descending branch of coronary artery. The mice in the EA group were treated with EA at "Neiguan" (PC 6) with 2 mA of intensity and 2 Hz /100 Hz of frequency; EA was given 30 min per treatment, once a day for totally 5 days. The mice in the control group and model group were treated with immobilization and no EA was given. The mice in the sham operation group were not treated with ligating at the left anterior descending branch of coronary artery, but the remaining procedure was identical to the model group. The electrocardiogram was recorded and △ST was calculated to evaluate the model. TTC and HE staining methods were applied to evaluate the infarct size and pathologic change of myocardial tissue, respectively. Western blot method was applied to test the protein expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-8 (IL-8).

RESULTSCompared with the sham operation group, the S-T segments in the model group and EA group were increased obviously after modeling (both <0.01), indicating the MI model was established successfully. The TTC and HE staining results indicated, compared with the sham operation group, the model group had larger infarction size (<0.01), more myocardial fibers injury and inflammatory infiltration; compared with the model group, the infarction size of the EA group was significantly reduced (<0.01), and the myocardial fibers injury and inflammatory infiltration were improved. Compared with the control group, the protein expression levels in the sham operation group were similar (all >0.05); compared with the sham operation group, the expression levels of TNF-α, NF-κB p65, IL-1β and IL-8 were significantly increased in the model group (<0.01, <0.05); compared with the model group, the expression levels of TNF-α, NF-κB p65, IL-1β and IL-8 were significantly reduced in the EA group (all <0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA might reduce the protein expression levels of TNF-α, NF-κB p65, IL-1β and IL-8 in cardiac muscle tissue to inhibit inflammatory reaction and achieve myocardial protective effect in mice with acute myocardial ischemia.

Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Inflammation ; therapy ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myocardial Ischemia ; therapy ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Random Allocation ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of virtual touch imaging quantification (VTIQ) technique in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant breast lesions.Methods From September to December 2015, the imaging data of 115 breast lesions in 100 patients confirmed by pathology on conventional ultrasound (2DUS) and VTIQ were retrospectively analyzed. The breast nodules were examined by 2DUS firstly and then the lesions were classified by breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS). The maximum, minimum and average of shear wave velocity (SWV) values were obtained from multiple SWV measurement under the VTIQ speed mode. According to the pathology results, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were plotted to determine the most accurate SWV value and the cut-off value for differential diagnosis. And the diagnosis efficiency was compared between 2DUS and VTIQ.Results There were 38 malignant nodules and 77 benign nodules in 115 breast nodules. BI-RADS grading≥4b level was set as the malignant nodules and grading≤ 4a level as the benign nodules. The SWVmax, SWVmin, and SWVmean on VTIQ of benign and malignant breast nodules were (5.11±1.61) m/s, (2.90±0.86) m/s, (3.73±1.02) m/s, and (7.22±0.94) m/s, (4.33±1.31) m/s, (5.73±1.11) m/s. There were significant differences between malignant and benign breast nodules in SWVmax, SWVmin, and SWVmean on VTIQ (t=-7.442,-7.047,-9.356, allP<0.001). Based on the area under curve of ROC, the SWVmean value in the nodule was the best value in comparison with other SWV values. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of diagnose malignant lesion conducted by 2DUS were 89.5％, 85.7％, 87.0％, 0.63 and 0.84, respectively. The cut-off value of VTIQ mean was 4.34 m/s. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of malignant lesion conducted by VTIQ were 89.5％, 85.7％, 87.0％, 0.76 and 0.95, respectively. The diagnosis efficiency of VTIQ was better than 2DUS.Conclusion The study proved that the VTIQ SWVmean is the best parameter for differential diagnosis and VTIQ plays an important role in differential diagnosis of breast nodules.

Objective To explore the significance of case managers using WeChat platform in the treatment process and extended care for patients with laryngeal cancer.Methods From November 2014 to May 2015, 30 patients with partial resection or total resection of laryngeal cancer in the department of head and neck surgery were selected as a research subjects.Case managers provided fully supports,such as establishing WeChat group,replying online consultations,popularizing health education knowledge,providing psychological counselings.Psychological assessment of the patients was conducted by social support scale(SSRS)and anxiety scale(SAS)in the beginning of case management.Results comparison was performed before and after three months intervention.Results The score of subjective support of patients before intervention was (25.13 ±4.81)points,which after intervention was (28.33 ± 4.41)points.The score of support availability before intervention was (7.20 ±1.99)points,which after intervention was (35.27 ±5.90)points.The differences were statistically significant(t =-2.685,-5.280,2.917,all P <0.05).Conclusion The WeChat platform mediated by the case management is effective in the management of the psychological health of patients with laryngeal cancer,which can effectively promote the rehabilitation of patients.

Purpose It is still undetermined about the application of regular ultrasound (US) combined with ultrasonic elastography (UE) in diagnosing superficial lymph nodes disease.Therefore our aim is to evaluate the value of US combined with UE in diagnosing superficial lymph nodes disease.Materials and Methods The ultrasonography and pathological data of 214 patients (with 266 superficial lymph nodes) were analyzed retrospectively.The US and UE data were compared with the pathologic results.Results The elastic classification of reactive hyperplastic and lymphomatous lymph nodes were no greater than grade 3,respectively;that of malignant metastatic lymph nodes was greater than grade 4.The accuracy of UE or US+UE was higher in diagnosing reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes' nature compared with US (P＜0.05).The sensitivity and accuracy of US+UE in diagnosing malignant superficial lymph nodes were higher than those of US (90.13％ vs.72.37％;86.09％ vs.68.05％,P＜0.05).Compared with UE alone,those of US+UE were also higher (90.13％ vs.77.63％;86.09％ vs.72.56％,P＜0.05).Conclusion The accuracy of differential diagnosis of benign or malignant superficial lymph nodes can be improved by US+UE method.

Objective To assess the relationship between the serum IgG antibody titer of pregnant women and the hemolytic dis‐ease of newborn(HDN) .Methods Using microcolumn gel coombs card assay method to determine titer of 255 cases of couples an‐tenatal serum IgG antibody and ABO blood group .Results with 195 cases of ABO‐incompatible couples ,the positive rate of abnor‐mal serum IgG antibody(≥64)was 93 .8% .The titer of anti‐A/B IgG :in 12(6 .2% ) cases was <64;in 12(6 .2% )cases was 64;in 60(30 .8% )cases was 128 ;in 39(20% )cases was 256 ;in 45(23 .0% )cases was 512 ;in 27(13 .8% ) cases was 1 024 .There were no statistical differences between IgG anti‐A(B) titers distribution between A/O blood group matching and B/O blood group matching (χ2 =4 .361 ,P=0 .499) ,IgG anti‐A( B) titers was higher in AB/O blood group matching .Conclusion we can take early and effec‐tive prevention ,treatment ,reducing the incidence of HDN by the determination of prenatal serum IgG antibody titers in ABO‐in‐compatible couples ,which is important for the population of eugenics .

Objective To evaluate the correlations between CT features and histopathologic subtypes of lung adenocarcinomas presenting as pure ground-glass nodules (pGGN) of 1 cm or less in maximal diameter. Methods CT appearances, pathology and clinical data of 95 patients (97 lesions) who underwent curative resection of lung adenocarcinomas presenting as pGGN≤1 cm in diameter from March 2011 to February 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 97 lung adenocarcinomas, there were 19 atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) (19.6%), 31 adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) (31.9%), 19 minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) (19.6%) and 28 invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma (IPA) (28.9%). Fifty (51.5%) were preinvasive (AAH+AIS) and 47 (48.5%) were invasive (MIA+IPA). Lesion size and density were compared among pathologic subtypes using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Lesion size were compared between preinvasive and invasive lesions using 2?independent samples t?test. Lesion location, presence of bubble?like sign, air bronchogram, vessel changes, margin, and tumor?lung interface were compared among histopathologic subtypes using chi?square test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the cut-off point of size in discriminating preinvasive lesions from invasive lesions. Results Of the 97 lesions, there were no statistically significant differences among histopathologic subtypes in terms of lesion density, presence of bubble?like sign, air?bronchogram, and margin (P>0.05). Mean size of AAH, AIS, MIA and IPA was (0.72 ± 0.19), (0.82 ± 0.14), (0.84 ± 0.11) and (0.85 ± 0.16) cm respectively. There were statistically significant differences among histopathologic subtypes in terms of lesion size (F=3.16, P=0.028). The vessel changes occurred in 2 of AAH, 11 of AIS, 10 of MIA and 17 of IPA. There were statistically significant differences among histopathologic subtypes in terms of vessel changes (χ2=13.22, P=0.004). Lesions with clear tumor?lung interface were in 10 of AAH, 24 of AIS, 17 of MIA, and 26 of IPA. There were statistically significant differences among histopathologic subtypes in terms of tumor?lung interface (χ2=12.67, P=0.005). The optimal cutoff value of lesion size for differentiating preinvasive lesions from invasive lesions was 0.82 cm (sensitivity, 61.7%;specificity, 62.0%). Conclusion Lesion size, vessel changes, and lung?tumor interface may indicate the invasiveness of lung adenocarcinoma presenting as pGGNs of≤1 cm in diameter.

Objective To explore the dynamic changes of D-dimers during pregnancy and early puerperium (within 3 days postpartum). Methods A retrospective study was performed among 8 367 healthy women who had term singleton delivery in Women′s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University from January 2007 to December 2014. D-dimers concentrations during pregnancy and early puerprium of all the cases were collected. Data of 21 065 D-dimers tests were assigned to 5 groups according to the time of sampling, including early pregnancy (≤12 gestation weeks), middle pregnancy (12-28 gestation weeks), late pregnancy (>28 gestation weeks), 1 postpartum (within 48 hours postpartum) and 2 postpartum (48-72 hours postpartum). The D-dimers concentrations in different groups were compared. The effect of delivery mode on D-dimers of early pureperium was analyzed. The correlation between D-dimers and the thromboembolic disease was also explored. In this study, Student′s t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for statistical analysis. D-dimers concentration≤0.5 mg/L was used as the normal range. Results (1) D-dimers concentrations during pregnancy were higher than the non-pregnant women (P<0.01), but there was no statistical difference between early pregnancy and late pregnancy (P=0.820). D-dimers concentration in the 1 postpartum group was higher than that of early pregnancy group or late pregnancy group (P<0.01). But in the 2 postpartum group, it was lower than early pregnancy, late pregnancy and 1 postpartum groups. (2)D-dimers in cesarean section cases was significantly higher than in vaginal delivery cases in each period of pregnancy and early pueprium.(3)The 95%CI of D-dimers in early pregnancy, late pregnancy, 48 hours after vaginal delivery, 48-72 hours after vaginal delivery, ≤48 hours after cesarean section, 48-72 hours after cesarean section were 0.58-8.28, 0.47-11.52, 1.04-9.59, 0.87-5.22, 1.07-11.58 and 1.00-6.23 mg/L, respectively.(4)In 6 cases with thromboembolic disease, D-dimers was 6.89-19.89 mg/L, with the mean value of 13.66 mg/L. It was significantly higher than normal range. In 3 cases, all after cesarean section, with lower extremity vein thrombosis within 48 hours postpartum, the D-dimers concentrations, 9.77, 8.65 and 6.89 mg/L respectively, were in the 95%CI of the study population after cesarean section. Conclusions D-dimers concentration of 0.5 mg/L is not suitable for venous thromboembolism screening during pregnancy. D-dimers concentration in pregnancy and early puerprium is higher than non-pregnancy. It increases in the very early period postpartum and decreases with time. D-dimers should not be a routine screening test to exclude thromboembolic disease in pregnant women without high risk factors and clinical manifestation of thromboembolic disease.