Visual analysis of research on traditional Chinese medicine treatment of Alzheimer's disease in recent ten years / 中国中药杂志

This study employed bibliometrics tools to review the studies of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) treatment of Alzheimer's disease(AD) in recent ten years, aiming to explore the research status, hotspots, and future trends in this field at home and abroad. The relevant literature published from January 1, 2012 to August 15, 2022 was retrieved from Web of Science and CNKI. CiteSpace 6.1R2 and VOSviewer 1.6.15 were used for the visual analysis of authors, countries, institutions, keywords, journals, etc. A total of 2 254 Chinese articles and 545 English articles were included. The annual number of articles published showed a rising trend with fluctuations. The country with the largest number of relevant articles published and the largest centrality was China. SUN Guo-jie and WANG Qi were the authors publishing the most Chinese articles and English articles, respectively. Hubei University of Chinese Medicine and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine published the most articles in Chinese and English, respectively. Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Neuroscience Letters published the articles with the highest cited frequency and the highest centrality. According to the keywords, the research on TCM treatment of AD mainly focused on the mechanism of action and treatment methods. Metabolomics, intestinal flora, oxidative stress, tau hyperphosphorylation, β-amyloid(Aβ), inflammatory cytokines, and autophagy were the focuses of the research on mechanism of action. Acupuncture, clinical effect, kidney deficiency and phlegm stasis, and dredging governor vessel to revitalize mind were the hotspots of clinical research. This research field is still in the stage of exploration and development. Exchanges and cooperation among institutions should be encouraged to carry out more high-quality basic research on TCM treatment of AD, obtain high-level evidence, and clarify the pathogenesis and prescription mechanism.

Research progress on the relationship between air pollution and gestational diabetes / 中华预防医学杂志

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common pregnancy complications and has serious implications for the health of mothers and their offspring. In recent years, studies have confirmed that air pollution is one of the main risk factors for diabetes, and there is increasing evidence that air pollution exposure is closely related to the occurrence of gestational diabetes. However, current studies on the association between air pollutant exposure and the incidence of gestational diabetes are inconsistent, and the window period of pollutant exposure is still unclear. Limited mechanistic studies suggest that airborne particulate matter and gaseous pollutants may affect GDM through multiple mechanisms, including inflammation, oxidative stress, disruption of adipokine secretion, and imbalance of intestinal flora. This review summarizes the relationship between air pollutant exposure and the incidence of GDM in recent years, as well as the possible molecular mechanism of the occurrence and development of GDM caused by air pollutants, in order to provide scientific basis for preventing pollutant exposure, reducing the risk of GDM, improving maternal and fetal outcomes and improving the quality of the birth population.

Research progress on multi-target regulation strategies of tumor microenvironment based on nano-drug delivery system / 药学学报

Tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of endothelial cells, pericytes, immune cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), cancer stem cells (CSCs), extracellular matrix (ECM) and other components of the complex biological environment. TME interacts with the tumor cells through a large amount of signaling pathways, participates in the process of tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis. Hence, TME has become a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment, exhibiting excellent therapeutic potential and research value in the field of cancer treatment. Currently, the novel nanotechnology has been widely applied in anticancer therapy, and nanotechnology-mediated drug delivery system is being explored to apply in TME modulation to inhibit tumor progression. Nanotechnology-mediated drug delivery has many advantages over traditional therapeutic modalities, including longer circulation times, improved bioavailability, and reduced toxicity. This review summarized the research of targeted nano-drug delivery based on TME regulation, including regulation strategies based on CSCs, CAFs, immune cells, ECM, tumor vascularization, exosomes, and microbiota. In addition, we summarized the advantages, opportunities, and challenges of TME regulation strategy compared with traditional treatment strategy, which provides a reference for the application of nano-drug delivery system based on TME regulation strategy in tumor precision therapy.

A study of the influence of the level of transvaginal birth experience on the timing of postpartum lactation initiation / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To investigate the current status of women′s level of birth experience and lactation initiation time and explore the effect of level of birth experience on lactation initiation time.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. A convenience sampling method was used to select 622 maternal cases attending the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from November, 2020 to January, 2021, and the distribution of their labor experience level and lactation initiation time was investigated by questionnaire and follow-up assessment.Results:There were 622 women with transvaginal deliveries who had lactation initiation times of more than 72 h in 241 cases (38.75%). The scores for each dimension of the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) were (49.63 ± 8.58)points, and the scores for each dimension of CEQ were perceived safety, professional support, involvement and self-efficacy in descending order. The results of the correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the scores on each dimension of CEQ and the total score and lactation initiation time ( r values were -0.436 to -0.146, all P<0.01). Stratified regression analysis showed that after controlling for age, number of births, gestational weeks of labour, illness during pregnancy and labour analgesia as the underlying variables affecting lactation initiation time, the scores for self-efficacy, involvement, perceived safety and professional support in the CEQ all affected lactation initiation time after delivery ( t values were -6.76 to -2.02, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The birth experience and lactation of women who deliver via vaginal birth need to be taken into account. The more negative the birth experience, the longer the lactation initiation time. The women′s involvement in the birth process, their own competence, perceived safety and level of professional support are all valid influencing indicators of lactation initiation time.

Reconsideration of fertility in young patients with breast cancer / 中华内分泌外科杂志

The pregnancy rate of young breast cancer patients is far lower than that of the general population, which is possibly related to many factors such as patients' concern about tumor recurrence, ovarian dysfunction caused by chemotherapy, long endocrine treatment cycle, lack of professional multidisciplinary cooperation team and so on. At present, there is limited data on fertility preservation before tumor treatment and successful pregnancy and delivery after treatment for young breast cancer patients. In order to successfully carry out the fertility preservation of young female breast cancer patients, strengthen their physical and mental health, promote the return of social roles and improve the health level of their offsprings, this article reviews the factors affecting fertility, the appropriate population for fertility preservation, and the impact on the prognosis of breast cancer, as well as the timing and methods of fertility preservation and recovery opportunities in young women with breast cancer.

Analysis of the efficacy and safety of proton radiotherapy for primary hepatocellular carcinoma / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To study the efficacy, safety and prognostic factors affecting survival of proton radiation therapy for primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:Forty-four patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma treated at Zibo Wanjie Cancer Hospital in Shandong Province from June 15, 2005 to September 12, 2018 were enrolled and given proton radiation therapy with a single dose of 2-5 Gy and a total dose of 25-75 Gy. The overall and local control rates, factors influencing survival, and adverse effects were observed during a follow-up period of 12 to 120 months.Results:The overall survival rates of all patients were 79.5% at 1 year, 68.2% at 2 years, 50.0% at 3 years, and 45.5% at 5 years. The overall local control rate was 95.5%. Patients older than 50 years had a longer overall survival (Log Rank Chi-Square of 4.787, P = 0.029). Child-Pugh A classification had better overall survival compared with B classification (Log Rank Chi-Square 4.077, P = 0.043). The main adverse reactions were skin reactions and gastrointestinal reactions. Among the patients with adverse reactions, 23 patients had skin reactions and 9 patients had mild gastrointestinal reactions, and no serious adverse events were found. Conclusions:Proton radiation therapy has good efficacy and high safety in patients with HCC. Age and Child-Pugh classification are prognostic factors affecting survival after proton radiation therapy.

Effects of Rehabilitation Training Combined with Acupuncture on Upper Limb Function of Stroke Patients Based on Kinect / 医用生物力学

Objective To investigate the effect of rehabilitation training combined with acupuncture ( RTA) on upper limb function of stroke patients by Kinect. Methods Stroke patients with upper limb dysfunction werrandomly divided into control group (rehabilitation training) and treatment group ( RTA), with 15 cases in each group. The modified Barthel Index ( MBI), Fugl Meyer assessment ( FMA), and Wolf motor function test (WMFT) were compared between two groups before and after treatment. The changes in motor time ( MT), motor unit number (MUN), index of curvature (IC), elbow flexion angle (EFA), shoulder flexion angle (SFA),and shoulder adduction angle ( SAA) during three actions, namely, placing forearm on the table, extending elbow and drinking water, were evaluated by Kinect and then compared between two groups before and after treatment. Results After 6 weeks of intervention, the scores of MBI, FMA, WMFT and elbow extension in treatment group were higher than those in control group (P<0. 05). The scores of MBI, FMA, WMFT and three actions after treatment were higher than those before treatment (P<0. 05). For three actions, the improvement of MT, MUN, IC, EFA, SFA, and SAA in treatment group were better than those in control group ( P< 0. 05). Compared with pre-treatment, for the action of forearm placement on the table and elbow extension, both treatment group and control group showed an increase in EFA (P<0. 05), and a decrease in MT, MUN, IC, SFA and SA (P<0. 05). For the action of drinking water, both treatment group and control group showed an increase in EFA and SAA (P< 0. 05), and a decrease in MT, MUN, IC and SAA ( P< 0. 05). Conclusions RTA can improve the upper limb function of stroke patients. Kinect can accurately reflect the changes in upper limb function of stroke patients, and it is suitable for clinical work.

Current status of public health system in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and improvement suggestion / 中华流行病学杂志

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has three public health systems under different systems, which plays an important role in the construction of the public health system in China. Further strengthening the construction of the public health system in the GBA will play an important reference role in the optimization and upgrade of China's public health system in the future. Based on the key consulting project of "research on the strategy of the modern public health system and capacity building in China" by Chinese Academy of Engineering, this paper deeply analyzes the current status and existing problems of public health system construction in GBA and suggests to improve and innovate the mechanisms of collaborative prevention and control of public health risks, resource coordination and joint research and result sharing, information sharing and exchange, personnel training and team building in order to comprehensively improve the capacity of public health system in GBA, and promote the construction of Healthy China.

Clinical Analysis of Patients with Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm(BPDCN).@*METHODS@#Clinical data of 5 patients diagnosed with BPDCN in Wuhan First Hospital and Wuhan Tongji Hospital from June 2016 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Among the 5 patients, 3 were male and 2 were female, with a median age of 28(10-52) years old. Four patients showed obvious skin damage at the initial diagnosis; the other one showed clinical manifestations of acute leukemia rather than obvious skin damage at the initial diagnosis, but infiltrated skin when the disease relapsed after treatment. Other infiltration sites of lesions included bone marrow (2/5), peripheral blood (2/5), lymph nodes (3/5), liver and spleen (2/5). All patients had no clinical manifestation of central nervous system infiltration. Tumor cell specific immune markers CD4, CD56, CD123 were all positive, and the median Ki-67 index was 70%. TET2, ASXL1 and NRAS gene mutations were found respectively in 3 patients by next-generation sequencing technique (NGS). ALL-like, AML-like and invasive NK/T cell lymphoma-like first-line induction chemotherapy regimens were used for the patients. One patient died of severe complications during the early stage of chemotherapy, 3 patients were evaluated as CR, and 1 patient was evaluated as PR. 2 patients were recurred and progressed after induction of chemotherapy, and one of them was evaluated as CR after re-treatment. One patient received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) and got long-term survival (OS 87 months). 3 patients received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), of which one died of transplantation related complications, and 2 cases survived. The median follow-up time of 4 patients with evaluable efficacy was 28.5(9-84) months, the median OS time was 31.5(10-87) months.@*CONCLUSION@#BPDCN is a highly heterogeneous malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. HSCT, especially allo-HSCT can significantly improve the prognosis of BPDCN patients.

Inhibitory Effect of Cinobufotalin on Macrophage Inflammatory Factor Storm and Its Mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the inflammatory effects of Cinobufotalin on monocytes in resting state and macrophages in activated state and its molecular mechanism.@*METHODS@#THP-1 cells were stimulated with Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate to induce differentiation into macrophages. Lipopolysaccharides was added to activate macrophages in order to establish macrophage activation model. Cinobufotalin was added to the inflammatory cell model for 24 h as a treatment. CCK-8 was used to detect cell proliferation, Annexin V /PI double staining flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis, flow cytometry was used to detect macrophage activation, and cytometric bead array was used to detect cytokines. Transcriptome sequencing was used to explore the gene expression profile regulated by Cinobufotalin. Changes in the significantly regulated molecules were verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.@*RESULTS@#1∶25 concentration of Cinobufotalin significantly inhibited the proliferation of resting monocytes(P<0.01), and induced apoptosis(P<0.01), especially the activated macrophages(P<0.001, P<0.001). Cinobufotalin significantly inhibited the activation of macrophages, and significantly down-regulated the inflammatory cytokines(IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8) released by activated macrophages(P＜0.001). Its mechanism was achieved by inhibiting TLR4/MYD88/P-IκBa signaling pathway.@*CONCLUSION@#Cinobufotalin can inhibit the inflammatory factors produced by the over-activation of macrophages through TLR4/MYD88/P-IκBa pathway, which is expected to be applied to the treatment and research of diseases related to the over-release of inflammatory factors.

Intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates: an analysis based on high-throughput sequencing / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the distribution characteristics and correlation of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates.@*METHODS@#Full-term healthy neonates who were born in Shanghai Pudong New Area Maternal and Child Health Hospital from September 2021 to January 2022 and were given mixed feeding were enrolled. The 16S rRNA sequencing technique was used to analyze the stool and pharyngeal swab samples collected on the day of birth and days 5-7 after birth, and the composition and function of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota were analyzed and compared.@*RESULTS@#The diversity analysis showed that the diversity of pharyngeal microbiota was higher than that of intestinal microbiota in early neonates, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). On the day of birth, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). On days 5-7 after birth, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05), and the relative abundance of Firmicutes in the intestine was significantly lower than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). At the genus level, there was no significant difference in the composition of dominant bacteria between the intestine and the pharynx on the day of birth (P>0.05), while on days 5-7 after birth, there were significant differences in the symbiotic bacteria of Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Rothia, Bifidobacterium, and Escherichia-Shigella between the intestine and the pharynx (P<0.05). The analysis based on the database of Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins showed that pharyngeal microbiota was more concentrated on chromatin structure and dynamics and cytoskeleton, while intestinal microbiota was more abundant in RNA processing and modification, energy production and conversion, amino acid transport and metabolism, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, coenzyme transport and metabolism, and others (P<0.05). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that compared with pharyngeal microbiota, intestinal microbiota was more predictive of cell motility, cellular processes and signal transduction, endocrine system, excretory system, immune system, metabolic diseases, nervous system, and transcription parameters (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The composition and diversity of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota of neonates are not significantly different at birth. The microbiota of these two ecological niches begin to differentiate and gradually exhibit distinct functions over time.

Correlation between macrophage chemotaxis and disease severity in patients with knee osteoarthritis / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the enhancement of macrophage chemotaxis in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and its correlation with the disease severity.@*METHODS@#Eighty patients with KOA admitted from July 2019 to June 2022 were enrolled as the observation group and divided into 29 cases of moderate group, 30 cases of severe group and 21 cases of extremely severe group. At the same time, 30 healthy subjects were included as the control group. The gene expressions of NF-κB, CXC chemokine receptor 7 (CXCR7) and CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) in macrophages of each group were analyzed. Visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to evaluate the degree of joint pain. Joint function was evaluated by knee Joint Society Scoring system(KSS). Finally, data analysis was carried out.@*RESULTS@#The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in moderate group, severe group and extreme recombination group were higher than those in control group. The VAS, the expression of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in the severe group and the extreme recombination group were higher than those in the moderate group, whereas KSS was lower than that in the moderate group. The VAS, expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in the extremely severe group were higher than those in the severe group, and KSS was lower than that in the severe group (all P<0.01). The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in macrophages were positively correlated with VAS score, but negatively correlated with KSS(all P<0.01). The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in macrophages were positively correlated with the severity of disease. After excluding the influence of traditional factors (gender, age and disease duration), multiple linear regression analysis further showed that the expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 were still positively correlated with the severity of disease(all P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#The chemotaxis of macrophages in patients with KOA increased with the aggravation of the disease, and was related to the degree of pain and function impairment.

Leonurine inhibits ferroptosis in renal tubular epithelial cells by activating p62/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the protective effect and the potential mechanism of leonurine(Leo) against erastin-induced ferroptosis in human renal tubular epithelial cells(HK-2 cells), an in vitro erastin-induced ferroptosis model was constructed to detect the cell viability as well as the expressions of ferroptosis-related indexes and signaling pathway-related proteins. HK-2 cells were cultured in vitro, and the effects of Leo on the viability of HK-2 cells at 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 μmol·L~(-1) were examined by CCK-8 assay to determine the safe dose range of Leo administration. A ferroptosis cell model was induced by erastin, a common ferroptosis inducer, and the appropriate concentrations were screened. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the effects of Leo(20, 40, 80 μmol·L~(-1)) and positive drug ferrostatin-1(Fer-1, 1, 2 μmol·L~(-1)) on the viability of ferroptosis model cells, and the changes of cell morphology were observed by phase contrast microscopy. Then, the optimal concentration of Leo was obtained by Western blot for nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2) activation, and transmission electron microscope was further used to detect the characteristic microscopic morphological changes during ferroptosis. Flow cytometry was performed to detect reactive oxygen species(ROS), and the level of glutathione(GSH) was measured using a GSH assay kit. The expressions of glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4), p62, and heme oxygenase 1(HO-1) in each group were quantified by Western blot. RESULTS:: showed that Leo had no side effects on the viability of normal HK-2 cells in the concentration range of 10-100 μmol·L~(-1). The viability of HK-2 cells decreased as the concentration of erastin increased, and 5 μmol·L~(-1) erastin significantly induced ferroptosis in the cells. Compared with the model group, Leo dose-dependently increased cell via-bility and improved cell morphology, and 80 μmol·L~(-1) Leo promoted the translocation of Nrf2 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. Further studies revealed that Leo remarkably alleviated the characteristic microstructural damage of ferroptosis cells caused by erastin, inhibited the release of intracellular ROS, elevated GSH and GPX4, promoted the nuclear translocation of Nrf2, and significantly upregulated the expression of p62 and HO-1 proteins. In conclusion, Leo exerted a protective effect on erastin-induced ferroptosis in HK-2 cells, which might be associated with its anti-oxidative stress by activating p62/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Research progress of biomimetic nano drug delivery system in nervous system disease / 药学学报

Brain delivery of drugs remains challenging due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). With advances in nanotechnology and biotechnology, new possibilities for brain-targeted drug delivery have emerged. Biomimetic nano drug delivery systems with high brain-targeting and BBB-penetrating capabilities, along with good biocompatibility and safety, can enable 'invisible' drug delivery. In this review, five different types of biomimetic strategies are presented and their research progress in central nervous system disorders is reviewed. Finally, the challenges and future prospects for biomimetic nano drug delivery systems in intracerebral drug delivery are summarized.

Research progress of anti-tumor in situ gel delivery system / 药学学报

Cancer is the most important leading cause of death worldwide, with about 10 million deaths caused by cancer in 2020. In situ gel drug delivery systems have attracted much attention in the field of pharmacy and biotechnology due to their good histo-compatibility, excellent injectability, high drug delivery capacity, slow-release drug delivery, and less influence by the in vivo environment. Meanwhile, in situ gel can be combined with chemotherapy, photo-thermal therapy, chemokinetic therapy, immunotherapy and so on to deliver drugs into the tumor site in a less invasive way without surgical operation, forming a semi-solid gel reservoir in the tumor site to realize in situ tumor combined therapy. In this paper, the author summarized the research progress of anti-tumor in situ gel delivery system in the past 10 years, introduced its commonly used polymer materials, classification principles and specific application examples, and finally summarized and discussed the key issues, in order to provide reference for the development of new anti-tumor drug delivery system in the future.

Traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of echinococcosis: a review / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by infection with Echinococcus species. As the drug of first choice for treatment of echinococcosis, albendazole suffers from problems of large doses and remarkable adverse reactions in clinical therapy. Development of novel drugs against echinococcosis is of urgent need. Recently, great advances have been achieved in the research on traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of echinococcosis. This review summarizes the progress of researches on traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of echinococcosis, aiming to provide insights into development of anti-echinococcosis drugs.

Bibliometric analysis of diabetic retinopathy therapy based on Web of Science database / 中华眼底病杂志

Objective:To analyze the trend, hotspots and frontiers of diabetic retinopathy (DR) therapy by bibliometric method.Methods:Data were taken from the Web of Science website of Science Citation Index. Articles from 2017 to 2021, which were related to the therapy of diabetic retinopathy (DR), were included. The bibliometric analysis softwares, VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to generate and analyze visual representations of the complex data input, including high-frequency keywords, keywords with the strongest citation bursts and co-occurrence networks of keywords.Results:A total of 3,845 articles were included. The amounts of papers published from 2017 to 2021 is 633, 651, 708, 893, and 960 respectively, increasing over years. Chinese scholars published the most articles, followed by the United States. The number of articles funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ranks third. There were 47 high-frequency keywords clustered into DR treatment, pathogenesis of DR, diagnosis of DR, Oxidative stress, diabetic macular edema (DME), type 2 diabetes, optical coherence tomography and deep learning. Those keywords were research hotspots and new keywords were constantly emerging. Among the top 11 burst words, the burst values of "intravitreal bevacizumab", "vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)", "choroidal neovascularization", "inhibition", and "receptors" were all over 10. Highly cited references showed a significant clustering tendency, which were treatment of DME, review of DR, clinical research of anti-VEGF drug therapy.Conclusions:The amount of paper related to DR therapy is on the rise; the specific treatment methods for the pathogenesis of DR are constantly research hotspots. In addition, formulating treatment strategies to reduce macular edema and other complications of diabetes, applying optical coherence tomography, deep learning and other technologies to improve the efficiency of DR diagnosis and treatment, improve targeted drug delivery systems, and finding new target points were research frontiers.

Current situation of parturiophobia and its correlation with prenatal preferred delivery mode in Changning District, Shanghai / 中华围产医学杂志

Objective:To analyze the prevalence of parturiophobia and its association with preferred mode of delivery in pregnant women in Changning District, Shanghai.Methods:A cross- sectional study was conducted among 1 560 pregnant women in the third trimester who had their antenatal examination in Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital from September 2020 to March 2021. Fear of childbirth was measured with a validated Chinese version of Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version A (W-DEQ-A). Based on the W-DEQ-A scores, the participants were divided into two groups: non-clinical parturiophobia group [<85 scores, including mild (≤37 scores), moderate (38-65 scores) and severe (66-84 scores) parturiophobia] and clinical parturiophobia group (≥85 scores). Rank-sum test, Chi-square test and t-test were used for univariate analysis. Multivariate binary logistic regression was used to analyze the factors associated with fear of childbirth and its relationship with preferred mode of delivery. Results:The detection rates of mild, moderate, severe and clinical parturiophobia were 18.8% (294/1 560), 44.9% (700/1 560), 31.1% (485/1 560) and 5.2% (81/1 560), respectively. Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that the participants who were supported by relatives and friends to have cesarean section ( OR=3.45, 95% CI: 1.29-9.22) or had antenatal anxiety ( OR=4.73, 95% CI: 2.49-8.97) were more likely to have clinical parturiophobia, while those with planned pregnancy ( OR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.29-0.82), high intensity physical activity ( OR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.18-0.72) or better/well understanding of the delivery process ( OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.19-0.97) were less likely to develop clinical parturiophobia (all P<0.05). Compared with the non-clinical parturiophobia women, those with clinical parturiophobia were more likely to choose cesarean section ( OR=2.15, 95% CI: 1.22-3.78, P=0.008). Conclusions:The detection rates of severe and clinical parturiophobia are 31.1% and 5.2% in Changning District, Shanghai. The associated factors mainly include the attitudes of relatives and friends towards the mode of delivery, antenatal anxiety, planned pregnancy or not, physical activity level and the understanding of delivery process. Clinical parturiophobia might be an important factor for cesarean section on maternal request.

A preliminary study on Candida albicans-induced pyroptosis of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of Candida albicans ( C. albicans) on pyroptosis of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) . Methods:Live-cell imaging was used to observe morphologic changes of in vitro C. albicans-infected BMDMs (multiplicity of infection [MOI] = 50) so as to evaluate whether pyroptosis occurred. Cultured BMDMs were divided into a control group and a C. albicans group, which were treated with phosphate-buffered saline and C. albicans suspensions respectively for 6 hours; then, real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to determine the mRNA expression of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), interleukin (IL) -1β and IL-18, and Western blot analysis to determine the protein expression and cleavage levels of NLRP3, caspase-1 and gasdermin D (GSDMD). BMDMs were cultured with C. albicans suspensions for different durations (0, 10, 15, 20, and 25 hours), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was conducted to detect secretion levels of IL-1β and IL-18. Cultured wild-type BMDMs and GSDMD-knockout BMDMs were treated with C. albicans suspensions for 15 minutes, and then rates of phagocytosis of C. albicans by wild-type BMDMs and GSDMD-knockout BMDMs were estimated by flow cytometry; after 6-hour treatment with C. albicans, flow cytometry and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay were performed to assess mortality rates of wild-type BMDMs and GSDMD-knockout BMDMs. In addition, some wild-type BMDMs and GSDMD-knockout BMDMs were separately divided into blank control group, control group, maximum enzyme activity-sample control group, IL-1β alone group, C. albicans alone group, and IL-1β + C. albicans group, and cell mortality rates were detected by the LDH release assay after treatment with IL-1β and/or C. albicans. Statistical analysis was carried out by using unpaired t test, Kruskal-Wallis test, analysis of variance, and other statistical methods. Results:After in vitro treatment with C. albicans, swelling and ballooning with large bubbles blowing from the plasma membrane occurred in BMDMs, suggesting the occurrence of cell pyroptosis; compared with the control group, the C. albicans group showed significantly increased mRNA expression levels of NLRP3 and IL-1β after 6-hour treatment with C. albicans ( t = 13.02, 17.51, respectively, P = or < 0.001), but no significant change in the IL-18 mRNA expression level ( P = 0.486), and Western blot analysis showed that C. albicans could increase the expression of NLRP3 inflammasomes, as well as cleaved caspase-1 and GSDMD. After the treatment with C. albicans for different durations (0, 10, 15, 20, and 25 hours), the secretion level of IL-1β by BMDMs gradually increased over time ( H = 12.90, P = 0.012), while the secretion level of IL-18 did not significantly change ( F = 0.48, P = 0.753), and the secretion level of IL-1β was significantly lower in the GSDMD-knockout BMDM group than in the wild-type BMDM group ( F = 24.22, P = 0.008). After 15-minute in vitro treatment with C. albicans, the phagocytosis rate of C. albicans was significantly lower in the GSDMD-knockout BMDM group (50.3% ± 1.10%) than in the wild-type BMDM group (58.53% ± 1.19%, t = 5.09, P = 0.007) ; after 6-hour treatment with C. albicans, the cell mortality rate was significantly higher in the GSDMD-knockout BMDM group than in the wild-type BMDM group (flow cytometry: 38.40% ± 0.50% vs. 34.37% ± 0.52%, t = 4.72, P = 0.009; LDH release assay: 22.52% ± 0.18% vs. 12.48% ± 0.15%, t = 42.36, P < 0.001) ; the cell mortality rates of wild-type BMDMs and GSDMD-knockout BMDMs both significantly decreased in the IL-1β + C. albicans groups compared with the C. albicans groups (both P < 0.001) . Conclusion:Pyroptosis could be induced in murine BMDMs after C. albicans infection, which promotes the release of IL-1β and may reduce the mortality rate of macrophages by improving their immune activity.

The progress of research on transposons in diagnosis and treatment of urological malignancies / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Transposons are the most prevalent elements in human genomes, which plays a vital role in gene expression regulation and evolutionary processes. They also jeopardize genome integrity with the characteristics of jumping and insertions. A delicate balance is maintained between the benefits and deleterious aspects of transposons, mediated by the epigenetic regulatory system. Once the balance is broken, it will give rise to genomic instability, leading to neoplasia. A lot of studies have shown that the transcriptional activation, expression products and methylation of transposons are closely related with urological malignancies, holding tremendous potential as biomarkers for risk and effect prediction, noninvasive diagnosis and targeted therapies of urological malignancies. In this article, the molecular mechanisms of transposons underlying the initiation, promotion and progression of urological malignancies as well as advances in diagnosis and treatment are reviewed.