Aim To explore the effects of Lycium berry seed oil on Nrf2/ARE pathway and oxidative damage in testis of subacute aging rats. Methods Fifty out of 60 male SD rats, aged 8 weeks, were subcutaneously injected with 125 mg • kg"D-galactosidase in the neck for 8 weeks to establish a subacute senescent rat model. The presence of senescent cells was observed using P-galactosidase ((3-gal), while testicular morphology was examined using HE staining. Serum levels of testosterone (testosterone, T), follicle-stimulating hormone ( follicle stimulating hormone, FSH ) , luteinizing hormone ( luteinizing hormone, LH ) , superoxide dis-mutase ( superoxide dismutase, SOD ) , glutathione ( glutathione, GSH) and malondialdehyde ( malondial-dehyde, MDA) were measured through ELISA, and the expressions of factors related to aging, oxidative damage, and the Nrf2/ARE pathway were assessed via immunohistochemical analysis and Western blotting. Results After successfully identifying the model, the morphology of the testis was improved and the intervention of Lycium seed oil led to a down-regulation in the expression of [3-gal and -yH2AX. The serum levels of SOD, GSH, T, and FSH increased while MDA and LH decreased (P 0. 05) . Additionally, there was an up-regulated expression of Nrf2, GCLC, NQOl, and SOD2 proteins in testicular tissue ( P 0. 05 ) and nuclear expression of Nrf2 in sertoli cells. Conclusion Lycium barbarum seed oil may reduce oxidative damage in testes of subacute senescent rats by activating the Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway.

ObjectiveThis study aims to understand the recognition of practitioners in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） hospitals on hospital-based health technology assessment （HB-HTA）， assessment needs， challenges， and suggestions， so as to provide references for the future work. MethodThe convenient sampling method was adopted to survey the relevant practitioners in TCM hospitals. The questionnaire included 39 questions in 4 dimensions and was distributed through the online platform Weijuanxing. ResultA total of 244 questionnaires were recovered， and the obtained data were analyzed in SPSS. The results showed that 137 practitioners were very familiar with HB-HTA and there was no significant difference in the recognition of practitioners in different occupations （F=0.251； P=0.778）. The practitioners in Hong Kong， Macao， and Taiwan had lower recognition than those in other regions. In terms of the assessment needs， 127 practitioners believed that it was very necessary to carry out HB-HTA in TCM hospitals in the future. Chinese patent medicines/Chinese herbal medicine decoction pieces （5.91） and TCM appropriate technology （5.57） had higher assessment priority scores. The assessment needs were high for the effectiveness （235 practitioners） and safety （224 practitioners） of health technology. The lack of specialized organization and standardized evaluation process system and the shortage of talents were considered to be the major challenges for the future development in this field. ConclusionThe stakeholders carrying out the health technology assessment in TCM hospitals had certain awareness of HB-HTA. Most practitioners believed that it was necessary to carry out HB-HTA in TCM hospitals in the future， while the work might face challenges such as the lack of organizations and system and the shortage of talents， which requires policy support.

Humans ; Aged ; Lung Diseases ; Pneumonia/drug therapy* ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy* ; Administration, Inhalation ; Community-Acquired Infections/drug therapy*

Objective To summarize the epidemiological and clinical features of infectious diseases of the central nervous system(CNS)by a single-center analysis.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 1247 cases of CNS infectious diseases diagnosed and treated in the First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from 2001 to 2020.Results The data for this group of CNS infectious diseases by disease type in descending order of number of cases were viruses 743(59.6％),Mycobacterium tuberculosis 249(20.0％),other bacteria 150(12.0％),fungi 68(5.5％),parasites 18(1.4％),Treponema pallidum 18(1.4％)and rickettsia 1(0.1％).The number of cases increased by 177 cases(33.1％)in the latter 10 years compared to the previous 10 years(P<0.05).No significant difference in seasonal distribution pattern of data between disease types(P>0.05).Male to female ratio is 1.87︰1,mostly under 60 years of age.Viruses are more likely to infect students,most often at university/college level and above,farmers are overrepresented among bacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis,and more infections of Treponema pallidum in workers.CNS infectious diseases are characterized by fever,headache and signs of meningeal irritation,with the adductor nerve being the more commonly involved cranial nerve.Matagenomic next-generation sequencing improves clinical diagnostic capabilities.The median hospital days for CNS infectious diseases are 18.00(11.00,27.00)and median hospital costs are ￥29,500(￥16,000,￥59,200).The mortality rate from CNS infectious diseases is 1.6％.Conclusions The incidence of CNS infectious diseases is increasing last ten years,with complex clinical presentation,severe symptoms and poor prognosis.Early and accurate diagnosis and standardized clinical treatment can significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality rate and ease the burden of disease.

Objective To comapre and analyze the differences and commonalities of expression profiles of serum exosomal microRNA between patients with thyroid nodules and healthy persons at different iodine levels,and then provide evidence for screening early diag-nostic markers of thyroid nodules at different iodine levels.Methods The peripheral blood samples from 10 patients with thyroid nod-ules and healthy volunteers at different iodine levels were collected.Their serum iodine levels were measured by the arsenic cerium cat-alytic spectrophotometry.Serum exosomal microRNA were extracted and the expression levels of microRNA were determined by the high-throughput sequencing technology.The differential target genes were predicted and further performed Gene ontology(GO)analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)analysis.Results Compared with healthy volunteers,there were 6 downreg-ulated miRNAs in the patients with thyroid nodules at different iodine levels,namely miR-324-5p,miR-6511b-3p,miR-9903,miR-550a-3p,miR-5001-3p,and miR-3688-3p.Differentially expressed exosomal microRNA could regulate the MAPK signaling path-way,PI3K-AKT signaling pathway,VEGF signaling pathway,and NF-κB signaling pathway.Conclusion Six differentially expressed microRNAs is identified,which may serve as biological markers for the early diagnosis of thyroid nodules at different iodine levels.

Objective To investigate the distribution of abnormal karyotypes and their associations with clinical manifestations of the infertile patients in southern Sichuan Province.Methods A total of 4 157 infertile patients who attended the Reproductive Medicine Center of our hospital from July 2018 to June 2021 were included.The chromosome karyotype in peripheral blood was detected by G-banding,and their semen analysis results,uterine development and other clinical data were collected.Results Among the 4 157 patients,chromosomal polymorphisms were found in 239 cases(5.75％),and abnormal karyotypes wee found 137 cases(3.30％).The abnormal karyotypes included 57 cases(41.61％)of sex chromosome aneuploidy,6 cases(4.38％)of Robertsonian transloca-tions,32 cases(23.36％)of balanced translocations,21 cases(15.33％)of chromosomal inversions,9 cases(6.57％)of mosai-cism,8 cases(5.84％)of marker chromosomes,3 cases(2.19％)of sex reversal and 1 case(0.73％)of sex chromosome deletion.In male patients with abnormal karyotypes,91.58％showed abnormal semen parameters,while in those with polymorphic karyotypes,55％had abnormal semen parameters.The patients with Turner syndrome had significantly smaller uterine dimensions(longitudinal,transverse,and anteroposterior)compared to the normal control group(P＜0.01).Conclusion Chromosomal abnormalities should be the important cause of infertility.Conducting karyotype analysis combining with clinical manifestations is crucial examination for the di-agnosis and reproductive guidance of infertile patients.

Objective To investigate the implementation of surveillance,prevention and control measures for healthcare-associated infection(HAI)in maternal and child healthcare(MCH)institutions,and provide policy evi-dence for optimizing HAI prevention and control in MCH institutions.Methods Stratified sampling was conducted among the MCH institutions at provincial,municipal and county levels in 8 provinces/autonomous regions.A uni-fied questionnaire was designed and the online survey was conducted through"Questionnaire Star".Results The data from 123 MCH institutions were included in the analysis.90.24％of the MCH institutions carried out compre-hensive surveillance on HAI.The ratios of MCH institutions which implemented targeted surveillance on HAI in neonatal intensive care unit(NICU),surgical site infection,multidrug-resistant organisms(MDROs)and HAI in intensive care units(non-NICU excluded)were 89.66％,85.96％,80.77％,and 74.19％,respectively.51.22％MCH institutions adopted information surveillance system on HAI cases.94.31％MCH institutions carried out surveillance on hand hygiene compliance.Over 90％MCH institutions carried out surveillance on environment hy-giene in high-risk departments.71.54％MCH institutions conducted centralized cleaning,disinfection,sterilization and supply for reusable medical instruments in the central sterile supply department(CSSD).Over 90％MCH insti-tutions established three-level pre-examination triage systems.86.18％set up transitional wards.MCH institutions generally adopted a management model with established effective communication,full appointment visits,and sepa-rate visits for special medical groups,such as registered pregnant women,high-risk newborns,healthcare groups,and long-term rehabilitation patients.However,the ratio of institutions conducting on-line follow-up visits was less than 50％.Conclusion MCH institutions have generally carried out comprehensive and targeted surveillance on HAI.Information surveillance need to be facilitated.Hand hygiene and environmental hygiene surveillance has been popularized to a certain extent at all levels of MCH institutions.The cleaning,disinfection,sterilization,and supply processes of reusable medical devices in a few MCH institutions are not standardized.Special medical populations get effective management.On-line healthcare is to be further promoted.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a heterogeneous group of diseases that affect the temporomandibular joint, chewing muscle system, dental occlusion, and even various structures throughout the body, with significant characteristics of biological-psychological-social pattern. TMD related chronic pain, as the most important clinical symptom, can result in negative emotions seriously affecting patients′ quality of life and physical and mental health. Although a variety of therapies have been previously reported to treat TMD related chronic pain, there is a lack of widely recognized therapies. Professor Jason W Busse (from Michael G DeGroote National Pain Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton ON, Canada) took the lead and collaborated with multiple internationally renowned schools/hospitals of stomatology to develop an international consensus on the management of chronic pain associated with TMD, a clinical practice guideline, which took two years and was published in December 15th, 2023 in a global top journal of clinical research The British Medical Journal. This clinical practice guideline explored the comparative effectiveness of available therapies for chronic pain associated with TMD, conditionally recommended the specific intervention for different treatment or pain relief, proposed a comprehensive, agreed, and standardized clinical practice guideline. This present article describes the methodology and key elements of the clinical practice guideline to help clinicians fully understand and appropriately apply this guidance, which could provide the references for clinical practice of TMD associated chronic pain in China.

Rare diseases still lack effective treatments, and the development of drugs for rare diseases (known as orphan drugs) is an urgent medical problem. As natural active ingredients in living organisms, some biomacromolecule drugs have good biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and high targeting. They have become one of the most promising fields in drug research and development in the 21st century. However, there are still many obstacles in terms of in vivo delivery. In view of the unique advantages of nanocarriers prepared from polymers, lipids, organic biomimetic and inorganic materials in drug delivery, researchers are committed to building an efficient delivery system with versatility and synergy to solve the bottleneck issues in treating rare diseases with biomacromolecule drugs. Therefore, this article reviews the research progress of nanocarrier delivering proteins, peptides and nucleic acids in the field of rare disease treatment in the past ten years, which provides ideas for researches on biomacromolecule drug nanosystems in the field of treatment of rare diseases.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion protein skin test (EC-ST) in screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among HIV/AIDS patients, so as to provide insights into the applicability of EC-ST in LTBI screening among HIV/AIDS patients. Methods: From April to June 2023, HIV/AIDS patients under management and treatment in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, were selected as study subjects. Basic information was collected through questionnaire surveys. LTBI was screened by EC-ST and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). Taking IGRA results as the diagnostic standard, the positive rate, sensitivity, specificity and consistency rate of EC-ST, and the impact of CD4+T lymphocyte (CD4) counts on the screening effect of EC-ST were analyzed. Results: A total of 523 HIV/AIDS patients were screened, including 458 males (87.57%) and 65 females (12.43%). The median age was 48.00 (interquartile range, 21.00) years. The positive rate of EC-ST was 7.27% and the positive rate of IGRA was 7.46%, with no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The consistency rate of the two methods was 94.84%, and the Kappa value of 0.621 (95%CI: 0.489-0.752, P<0.05). The sensitivity of EC-ST was 64.10% and the specificity was 97.31%. Comparing the groups with CD4 counts <500 and ≥500 cells/μL, the consistency rates of the two methods were 95.32% and 94.44%, and the Kappa values were 0.568 and 0.650, respectively (both P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the positive rates, sensitivity, and specificity of EC-ST (all P>0.05). Comparing the groups with CD4 counts <200 and ≥200 cells/μL, the consistency rates of the two methods were 96.55% and 94.62%, and the Kappa values were 0.648 and 0.619, respectively (both P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the positive rates, sensitivity, and specificity of EC-ST (all P>0.05). Conclusion The effectiveness of EC-ST in screening for LTBI among HIV/AIDS patients is consistent with that of IGRA and is not affected by CD4 counts.