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Objective:To deeply analyze differences in characteristics of neurosyphilis between male and female patients with neurosyphilis, as well as between patients with symptomatic neurosyphilis and those with asymptomatic neurosyphilis, and to provide reference for the prevention and control, clinical diagnosis and treatment of neurosyphilis.Methods:A total of 131 inpatients with neurosyphilis were collected from Department of Dermatology and Venereology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from June 2015 to December 2019, and their clinical manifestations and laboratory findings were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were grouped according to gender and neurological/psychiatric symptoms. Measurement data were compared by using two-independent-sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test, and enumeration data were compared by using chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test, to analyze differences in clinical characteristics and laboratory indicators between different groups. Results:Among the 131 patients, there were 72 with asymptomatic neurosyphilis (asymptomatic group) and 59 with symptomatic neurosyphilis (symptomatic group). The proportion of patients receiving syphilis treatment was significantly lower in the symptomatic group (10.17%) than in the asymptomatic group (98.61%, OR = 0.002, P < 0.001). The misdiagnosis rate at the first clinical visit was significantly higher in the male patients (50.00%) than in the female patients (24.49%, OR = 3.08, P = 0.004), as well as in the symptomatic patients (89.83%) than in the asymptomatic patients (0, OR = 13.00, P < 0.001). The proportion of symptomatic patients was significantly higher in male patients (57.32%) than in female patients (14.64%, OR = 4.14, P = 0.003). Compared with the female patients, the male patients showed significantly increased positive rates of toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) in the cerebrospinal fluid samples (52.44% vs. 26.54%, OR = 3.05, P = 0.004), increased proportions of patients with elevated levels of total protein (> 0.5 g/L) in cerebrospinal fluids (79.27% vs. 59.18%, OR = 2.64, P = 0.01), increased total protein levels in cerebrospinal fluids (0.76 ± 0.41 g/L vs. 0.56 ± 0.25 g/L, P = 0.002), and increased detection rates of brain magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities (72.22% vs. 44.90%, OR = 2.13, P = 0.039). The age at diagnosis of the symptomatic female patients (50.82 ± 9.31 years) was significantly higher than that of the asymptomatic female patients (42.30 ± 12.18 years, P = 0.038). The positive rate of TRUST in the cerebrospinal fluid samples was significantly higher in the patients with symptomatic neurosyphilis (55.93%) than in those with asymptomatic neurosyphilis (31.94%, OR = 2.70, P = 0.006), and so was the total protein level in cerebrospinal fluids (0.79 ± 0.46 g/L vs. 0.60 ± 0.24 g/L, P = 0.003) . Conclusion:The misdiagnosis rate of neurosyphilis is high at the first clinic visit; the condition of male patients is more serious than that of female patients; anti-syphilitic treatment history, gender and age may play some role in the development of neurosyphilis.
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Objective To investigate the effects of empathy on the insight of first-episode schizophrenia.Methods Empathy with tbe interpersonal reactivity index-C (IRI-C) was applied to 71 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 69 healthy controls.In addition,schizophrenic patients were evaluated with scale of unawareness of mental disorder (SUMD) for the scores of clinical insight and positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for clinical symptoms.Results Compared with the control group,the schizophrenic patients showed lower scores in the perspective taking ((13.85±1.86) vs (6.74±2.56),P＜0.01),empathic concern ((14.28±2.16) vs (17.49± 2.73),P＜0.01) of IRI-C,but higher subscale score ((10.28±2.78) vs (8.93±1.93),P＜0.01) in personal distress.Pearson correlation analysis showed that,there were negatively significant correlations between insight score and perspective taking (r=-0.429,P＜0.01),empathic concern (r=-0.709,P＜0.01) subscores of IRI-C respectively.In addition,the insight total score was positively correlated with the positive symptoms subscores (r=0.545,P＜0.01) of PANSS.Conclusion Patients with first-episode schizophrenia have significant empathy defects.And the empathic deficits are associated with the insight impairment among the schizophrenic patients,suggesting that patients' insight level can change by improving their empathy ability.
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Objective To investigate the clinical value of sB7-H3 in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis at early stage. Methods By using the double antibody sandwich ELISA method, the level of plasma sB7-H3 was measured at 24h after onset of abdominal pain in 75 patients with acute pancreatitis (MAP30, MSAP20, SAP25), and 20 healthy persons were enrolled in the controlgroup.The sensitivity and specificity correlations of sB7-H3 in acute pancreatitis with severity degree , as well as with the clinical detection index , were also evaluated. Results The level of plasma sB7-H3 at 24 h in the AP group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control ( HC) group (t = 3.925, P = 0.0002), however, no significant difference was found between the MAP groep and the HC group (P>0.05). The levels of plasma sB7-H3 in the MSAP and the SAP group were significantly higher than that in the HC group (P<0.05和P<0.001)or the MAP group (P<0.05 和P<0.01);The level of plasma sB7-H3 in the SAP group was also markedly higher than that in the MSAP group (P < 0.01). sB7-H3 had a linear positive correlation with LDH、hs-CRP、WBC(P<0.05). ALB had a linear negative correlation with and Ca (S)(P<0.05). By the cutoff of sB7-H3, the sensitivity and specificity to judgethe above moderate pancreatitis were 88.9%and 83.3%,and to judgethe SAP were 96%and 96%. Conclusion sB7-H3 has important clinical value to judge the severity of acute pancreatitis at early time with high sensitivity and specificity , with a linear correlation with the clinical severity index.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the influence of maternal staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) administration during pregnancy on CD3⁺ TCR Vβ8⁺T cells of adult offspring rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Pregnant maternal rats at gestational day (GD) 16 were injected intravenously with 15 µg SEB in 0.2 ml PBS (SEB group), and the control rats receive the same volume of PBS. Flow cytometry was used to determine the levels of CD3⁺ TCR Vβ8⁺T cells in both the thymus and peripheral blood of adult offspring rats and the response of these cells to a secondary SEB administration.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Maternal SEB administration during pregnancy significantly decreased the percentages of CD3⁺TCR Vβ8⁺T cells in the thymus in adult female (1.760-2.714) and male (1.098-2.088) offspring rats (P<0.05). The change of CD3⁺TCR Vβ8⁺T cells in the peripheral blood was similar to that in the thymus. In the control adult offspring rats, SEB administration at adulthood significantly reduced the percentages of CD3⁺TCR Vβ8⁺T cells in both the thymus and peripheral blood (P<0.05). But in SEB group, a secondary SEB administration in adult offspring rats significantly increased the percentage of CD3⁺TCR Vβ8⁺T cells in the peripheral blood (P<0.05) but not in the thymus (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Maternal SEB administration during pregnancy can change the response of CD3⁺ TCR Vβ8⁺T cells of adult offspring rats to a secondary SEB administration.</p>