AIM:To observe the changes of Th17 related cytokines in tears of conjunctivochalasis(CCH)patients with liver-kidney yin deficiency treated with traditional Chinese medicine Qi Jing Mingmu decoction combined with artificial tears.METHODS:A total of 56 CCH patients(56 eyes)with liver-kidney yin deficiency of grade Ⅱ to Ⅲ were collected and randomly divided into treatment group(treated with Qi Jing Mingmu decoction combined with artificial tears)of 26 cases(26 eyes)and control group(treated with pure artificial tears)of 30 cases(30 eyes). The treatment course was 1 mo, and international ocular surface disease index(OSDI), tear film break-up time(BUT), tear meniscus height(TMH)and conjunctival congestion index of the patients were observed before and after treatment. The patients' tears were collected before and after treatment, and Th17 related cytokines in tears were detected using flow cytometry immunofluorescence luminescence method.RESULTS:After treatment, the OSDI, BUT and conjunctival congestion index of CCH patients in the treatment group and control group were significantly improved(all P<0.01). After treatment, the TMH of CCH patients in the treatment group was significantly reduced(P<0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference in TMH of the control group before and after treatment(P=0.41). After treatment, the levels of Th17 related cytokines IL-17A, IL-22, IFN-γ, IL-17F, and IL-1β in tears of CCH patients in the treatment group were significantly reduced after treatment(all P<0.01), and the changes in the treatment group were more significant(all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the control group before and after treatment(all P>0.05). After treatment, the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the tears of both groups of CCH patients decreased compared to those before treatment(both P<0.05), but the changes in the treatment group were more significant(both P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Qi Jing Mingmu decoction combined with artificial tears can effectively improve the ocular surface microenvironment, enhance tear film stability, and inhibit ocular surface inflammation in CCH patients with liver-kidney yin deficiency. This may be related to its reduction in the secretion of Th17 related cytokines in tears.

Cataract is a common eye disease caused by metabolic disorders of the lens, which can lead to visual impairment or blindness. Its occurrence and development are affected by various factors, among which age is the most important factor. At present, drug therapy only has a delaying effect on early cataracts, but surgical treatment is still needed for cataracts that affect vision in the middle and late stages. Therefore, it is crucial to establish an experimental cataract model and explore appropriate drugs for preventing and treating cataracts. D-galactose has been widely used in the study of aging animal models, and is often used in the models of diabetes cataract and age-related cataract. This article elaborates on the pathogenesis, modeling methods, and evaluation criteria for successful modeling of D-galactose-induced cataract models, in order to guide experimental researches related to cataract prevention and treatment.

OBJECTIVE Cognitive deficit is a com-mon comorbidity in temporal lobe epilepsy(TLE)and that is not well controlled by current therapeutics.Currently,how epileptic seizure affects cognitive performance remains largely unclear.The subiculum is the major out-put of the hippocampus,which projects to entorhinal cor-tex and other more distinct brain regions.Physiologically,the subiculum codes spatial working memory and naviga-tion information including place,speed,and trajectory.Importantly,prior studies have noted the importance of the subiculum in the beginning,spreading,and generaliz-ing process of hippocampal seizure.How seizure-activated neurons in subiculum participate in cognitive impairment remains largely elusive.METHODS In this study,we sought to label the subicular seizure-activated c-fos+ neu-rons with a special promoter with enhanced synaptic activity-responsive element E-SARE in the subiculum,combined with chemogenetics and designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs(DREADDs),Ca2+ fiber photometry approaches,and behavioral tasks,to reveal the role of these neurons in cognitive impairment in epilepsy.RESULTS We found that chemogenetic inhibi-tion of subicular seizure-tagged c-fos+ neurons(mainly CaMK Ⅱ α+ glutamatergic neurons)alleviates seizure generalization and improves cognitive performance in the hippocampal CA3 kindling TLE model.While inhibition of seizure-labeled c-fos+ GABAergic interneuron shows no effect on seizure and cognition.As a comparison,che-mogenetic inhibition of the whole subicular CaMK Ⅱ α+ neuron impairs cognitive function in na?ve mice in basal condition.Notably,inhibition of subicular seizure-tagged c-fos+ neurons enhances the recruitment of cognition-responsive c-fos+ neurons via increasing neural excitability during cognition tasks.CONCLUSION Our results dem-onstrate that subicular seizure-activated c-fos+ neurons contribute to cognitive impairment in TLE,suggesting sei-zure-tagged c-fos+ neurons as the potential therapeutic target to alleviate cognitive impairment in TLE.

The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B1900468 The original version of this article (Liu et al., 2020) unfortunately contained some mistakes. 1. Figs. 7c and 7d in p.229 were incorrect. The upper left and bottom left pictures in Fig. 7c were accidentally duplicated with the pictures at the same position of Fig. 1a. The upper right and bottom right pictures were mistakenly placed in Fig. 7c. Therefore, the calculation results in Fig. 7d were also mistaken. The correct versions should be as follows: 2. Because of the wrong pictures of Fig. 7c, the calculated results of "42.5%" in Abstract, Sections 3.9 and 5 are also mistaken. The correct result should be "45.2%." (1) Lines 10-12 of Abstract in p.218: "CSO-ss-SA/siRNA could effectively transmit siRNA into tumor cells, reducing the expression of RAC1 protein by 38.2% and decreasing the number of tumor-induced invasion cells by 42.5%." was incorrect. The correct version should be "CSO-ss-SA/siRNA could effectively transmit siRNA into tumor cells, reducing the expression of RAC1 protein by 38.2% and decreasing the number of tumor-induced invasion cells by 45.2%." (2) Lines 23-26 of Section 3.9 in p.227: "It was shown that the number of invasive tumor cells induced by DOX was reduced by 42.5% since CSO-ss-SA/siRNA downregulated the expression of RAC1 protein." was incorrect. The correct version should be "It was shown that the number of invasive tumor cells induced by DOX was reduced by 45.2% since CSO-ss-SA/siRNA downregulated the expression of RAC1 protein." (3) Lines 4-8 of Section 5 in p.231: "CSO-ss-SA, as an efficient redox-sensitive carrier for delivering siRNA silencing RAC1 into tumor cells, reduced the expression of RAC1 by 38.2% and decreased DOX-induced tumor invasion cells by 42.5% in vitro." was incorrect. The correct version should be "CSO-ss-SA, as an efficient redox-sensitive carrier for delivering siRNA silencing RAC1 into tumor cells, reduced the expression of RAC1 by 38.2% and decreased DOX-induced tumor invasion cells by 45.2% in vitro."

Objective:To observe the effects of different kinesio taping methods on hand swelling, shoulder pain, upper limb motor function and ability in the activities of daily living of stroke survivors with shoulder-hand syndrome.Methods:Sixty stroke survivors with shoulder-hand syndrome were randomly divided into groups A, B, C and a control group, each of 15. In addition to routine rehabilitation training and drug treatment, as well as claw-shaped and I-shaped taping of the hand and wrist, group A received I-shaped kinesio taping, B received Y-shape and C received I-shape plus Y-shaped taping of the shoulder. Before and after 4 weeks, the drainage method was employed to calculate the difference in volume between the two hands. Their temperatures were also measured. The subjects reported shoulder pain using a visual analog scale (VAS). Upper limb motor functioning was quantified using Fugl-Meyer scores, and difficulties in the activities of daily living were evaluated using the modified Barthel index (MBI).Results:Before the treatment there were no significant differences among the four groups in terms of any of the measurements. Afterward the treatment, significant improvement was observed in the volume and temperature differences between hands, as well as in the VAS, FMA and MBI scores. After the treatment, group C′s average FMA score was significantly higher than those of the other groups. There was no significant difference in MBI scores among the four groups.Conclusions:Supplementing rehabilitation training with I-shaped plus Y-shaped kinesio taping can effectively reduce the volume and temperature differences between the hands, relieve shoulder pain, and improve effectiveness in the activities of daily living of persons with shoulder-hand syndrome after a stroke. Hand-claw and wrist-I taping also have some effect.

Objective:To evaluate the intestinal function in rats with exertional heat stroke (EHS) and explore the protective role of Ruifuping pectin (RFP) against heat related intestinal mucosal injury.Methods:One hundred and twenty healthy special pathogen free (SPF) male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normothermic control group, EHS model group, hyperthermic plus drinking water group (H 2O+EHS group) and hyperthermic plus pectin group (RFP+EHS group) with 30 rats in each group. The rats in the H 2O+EHS group and RFP+EHS group were given water 20 mL/kg or RFP 20 mL/kg orally for 5 days during adaptive training period. After 1 week, the temperature control range was adjusted to (37±1)℃ using the temperature control treadmill, and the rat model of EHS was reproduced by one-time high temperature exhaustive exercise. No rehydration intervention was given during the training adaptation period in the EHS model group. The rats in the normothermic control group were maintained to room temperature (25±2)℃ and humidity (55±5)% without other treatment. Behavior tests including withdraw response, righting, and muscle strength were performed immediately after onset of EHS. Blood of inferior vena cava was collected, and the serum inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukins (IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10)] and activity of diamine oxidase (DAO) were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The intestinal mucosa was collected, after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and Chiu score was performed to assess EHS induced pathological changes under light microscope. Results:The rats in the EHS model group had behavioral, inflammatory and pathological changes, such as delayed withdraw response and righting, decreased forelimb pulling, increased inflammatory index, and obvious intestinal mucosal injury, which indicated that the reproduction of the EHS model was successful. There was no significant difference in above parameters between the H 2O+EHS group and the EHS model group except that the inflammatory index in the RFP+EHS group was improved. Compared with the EHS model group, the withdraw reflex to pain and righting after RFP pretreatment in the RFP+EHS group were significantly improved (righting score: 1.4±0.2 vs. 0.3±0.2, withdraw reflex to pain score: 1.0±0.1 vs. 0.2±0.1, both P < 0.05), the muscle strength was significantly increased (N: 13.0±0.5 vs. 8.2±0.6, P < 0.01). The levels of pro-inflammatory factors in the RFP+EHS group were significantly lower than those in the EHS model group [TNF-α (ng/L): 67.5±9.2 vs. 194.3±13.7, IL-6 (ng/L): 360.0±54.1 vs. 981.2±84.4, IL-1β (ng/L): 33.7±9.0 vs. 88.7±6.1, all P < 0.01], while the level of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 was higher than that in the EHS model group (ng/L: 208.7±10.5 vs. 103.7±7.0, P < 0.01). The degree of intestinal mucosal injury in the RFP+EHS group was less severe than that in the EHS model group, and the Chiu score and DAO were significantly lower than those in the EHS model group [Chiu score: 1.5±0.2 vs. 3.8±0.0, DAO (U/L): 83.7±6.7 vs. 128.7±10.5, both P < 0.05]. Conclusions:High temperature training can damage the intestinal barrier function, and induce endotoxemia and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in rats. Oral prophylactic RFP can protect the intestinal barrier function, alleviate SIRS, and promote the recovery of basic nerve reflex and muscle strength after the occurrence of EHS in rats.

As an important course in medical laboratory science, clinical immunology is composed of advanced immunological knowledge and advanced testing technology, which are closely related to many disciplines, such as basic medicine, clinical medicine and so on. Medical educators introduced case-based teaching into clinical immunology, selected the typical, enlightening and interesting clinical cases, designed some reasonable questions for students majoring in medical laboratory science and improved students' participation via pre-class discussion and answering their questions during class, so as to help them study actively. Case-based teaching has been proved through practice as one of the important ways to improve the learning efficiency of medical students and promote their overall development, and it is a successful method for teaching reform.

Objective:To explore the correlation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] level and peritoneal dialysis (PD) associated peritonitis, and provide a new idea for the prevention and treatment of peritonitis.Methods:In this single-center retrospective cohort study, patients who were≥18 years old and were treated with regular PD≥3 months in PD center from January 1, 2014 to September 30, 2018 were recruited, except those who had a history of malignant tumors or systemic infectious diseases, transferred from permanent hemodialysis (HD) or failed kidney transplantation. Baseline data including demographic characteristics as well as clinical and biochemical data were collected. All the patients were followed up until death, transfer to HD, kidney transplantation, transfer to other centers or the end of our study (December 31, 2018), and were divided into low tertile [serum 25(OH)D3 ≤12μg/L], middle tertile[12 μg/L17 μg/L] according to the baseline serum 25(OH)D3 level. Multivariate adjusted Poisson model was used to evaluate the association between serum 25(OH)D3 level and PD related peritonitis.Results:A total of 642 patients were enrolled in our study, of whom 341 were male (53.12%) , and the age was (47.58±14.10) years old. The serum 25(OH)D3 level was (13.83±6.41) μg/L. As for the primary disease, 67.19% were chronic glomerulonephritis. During a median 42(19, 59) months follow-up period, 232 peritonitis occurred in 139 patients. After adjusting for confounders, including gender, age, albumin, body mass index(BMI), calcium-phosphorus product, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), diabetes, charlson index and drug use, multivariate Poisson regression analysis showed that the risk of peritonitis in the middle tertile and the low tertile was 92% (95% CI 0.62-1.38, P= 0.690) and 1.74 times (95% CI 1.19-2.54, P=0.004) of the high tertile respectively. The difference between the low tertile and the high tertile was statistically significant. Conclusions:The level of serum 25(OH)D3 is closely related to the occurrence of PD associated peritonitis. Low level serum 25(OH)D3 is an independent risk factor for peritonitis in PD patients.

Objective:To explore the effect of continuous quality improvement (CQI) on reducing the incidence of peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis in patients within the first year of PD initiation.Methods:The patients who received catheter placement from January 2006 to December 2016 in our hospital were enrolled in this study. All patients were divided into four groups: pre-CQI group patients who initiated PD treatment from 2006 to 2007 (before CQI phase, group A), CQI Ⅰphrase patients who initiated PD treatment from 2008 to 2010 (group B), CQI Ⅱ phrase patients who initiated PD treatment from 2011 to 2013 (group C), and CQI Ⅲ phrase patients who initiated PD treatment from 2014 to 2016 (group D). The method of plan, do, check and act (PDCA) was conducted to decrease the incidence of PDRP. All the patients were followed up for 12 months or until they withdrew from PD in this period. Poisson analysis was used to compare the incidence of PDRP among the groups.Results:There were 2 383 PD patients recruited in this study, including 346 cases in group A, 850 cases in group B, 688 cases in group C and 499 cases in group D, with an age of (47.1±15.8) years, among whom 59.1% of the patients were male, and 21.4% with diabetes. The follow-up time was (10.9±2.8) months. Compared with group A, the incidence of PDRP was lower than that in group C (0.156 episodes/patient year vs 0.234 episodes/patient year, P=0.020); the incidence of gram positive PDRP decreased (0.052, 0.049, 0.054 episodes/patient year vs 0.104 episodes/patient year, all P<0.05) in group B, C, D; the incidence of gram negative PDRP increased in group B, then decreased in group C and group D (all P>0.05). Cox regression analysis indicated that CQI was independently associated with the incidence of gram positive PDRP ( HR=0.526, 95% CI 0.349-0.792, P=0.002). Conclusion:CQI can effectively reduce the incidence of gram positive PDRP in patients within the first year of PD initiation.

Objective:To explore the effect of the interaction between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum uric acid (SUA) on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD).Methods:Patients who performed PD catheterization at the PD center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and had initiated PD therapy for over 3 months from January 2006 to December 2016 were enrolled and followed up until December 2018. Demographic data, baseline clinical and laboratory examination results of the patients were collected. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression analysis were used to explore the correlation between SUA and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality in different eGFR groups of PD patients.Results:A total of 2 124 PD patients were enrolled with age of (47.0±15.2) years, among whom 1 269 patients were male and 536 patients had diabetes. The SUA level was (429±96) μmol/L and the median level of eGFR was 6.69(5.17, 8.61) ml·min -1·(1.73 m 2) -1. After a median follow-up time of 42 months, 554 patients died, among whom 275 patients were cardiovascular death. The Cox regression analysis revealed that there was a significant interaction between eGFR and SUA on all-cause mortality ( P=0.043). The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the tertile 1 (SUA<384 μmol/L) and tertile 3 (SUA>460 μmol/L) group had significantly higher all-cause mortality ( P=0.009) than the reference group of tertile 2 (SUA 384-460 μmol/L) in the higher eGFR group [eGFR>6.69 ml·min -1·(1.73 m 2) -1]but not in the lower eGFR. After adjusting for relevant demographic data, complications, biochemical results and other variables, in patients with higher eGFR, the risk of all-cause mortality increased by 0.2% ( HR=1.002, 95% CI 1.000-1.003, P=0.019) for every 1 μmol/L increase in SUA. In addition, compared with the tertile 2 reference group, the tertile 3 group was independently correlated with higher risk of all-cause mortality ( HR=1.670, 95% CI 1.242-2.245, P=0.001). Conclusions:The eGFR and SUA level significantly interacts with all-cause mortality, and the higher SUA level in higher eGFR group is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in PD patients.