Downregulation of CDC42 inhibits the proliferation and stemness of human trophoblast stem cell via EZRIN/YAP inactivation.

Placental dysplasia increases the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). However, the underlying mechanism regulating placental development remains unclear. In this study, we showed that the expression of CDC42 was decreased in the villous tissue of RSA samples compared to healthy controls. Further examination demonstrated that CDC42 deficiency led to the differentiation of human trophoblast stem cells (hTSCs) and inhibited their proliferation. Genetic manipulation of YAP and EZRIN in hTSCs revealed that CDC42 regulates the stemness and proliferation of hTSCs; this is dependent on EZRIN, which translocates YAP into the nucleus. Moreover, the expression pattern of EZRIN, YAP, and Ki67 was also abnormal in the villous tissue of RSA samples, consistent with in vitro experiments. In summary, these findings suggest that the CDC42/EZRIN/YAP pathway plays an important role in placental development.

The Risk of Postpartum Hemorrhage Following Prior Prelabor Cesarean Delivery Stratified by Abnormal Placentation: A Multicenter Historical Cohort Study.

Background: Prior prelabor cesarean delivery (CD) was associated with an increase in the risk of placenta previa (PP) in a second delivery, whether it may impact postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) independent of abnormal placentation. This study aimed to assess the risk of PPH stratified by abnormal placentation following a first CD before the onset of labor (prelabor) or intrapartum CD. Methods: This multicenter, historical cohort study involved singleton, pregnant women at 28 weeks of gestation or greater with a CD history between January 2017 and December 2017 in 11 public tertiary hospitals within 7 provinces of China. PPH was analyzed in the subsequent pregnancy between women with prior prelabor CD and women with intrapartum CD. Furthermore, PPH was analyzed in pregnant women stratified by complications with PP alone [without placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) disorders], complications with PP and PAS, complications with PAS alone (without PP), and normal placentation. We performed multivariate logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% CI controlling for predefined covariates. Results: Out of 10,833 pregnant women, 1,197 (11%) women had a history of intrapartum CD and 9,636 (89%) women had a history of prelabor CD. Prior prelabor CD increased the risk of PP (aOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.40-2.60), PAS (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.11-2.24), and PPH (aOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.02-1.75) in a subsequent pregnancy. After stratification by complications with PP alone, PP and PAS, PAS alone, and normal placentation, prior prelabor CD only increased the risk of PPH (aOR 3.34, 95% CI 1.35-8.23) in a subsequent pregnancy complicated with PP and PAS. Conclusion: Compared to intrapartum CD, prior prelabor CD increased the risk of PPH in a subsequent pregnancy only when complicated by PP and PAS.

A Research on Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) Syndrome Patterns and Pulse Parameters of 348 Children with Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infection (RRTI) / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

This study mainly explored the pulse parameters in children with RRTI with different TCM syndromes,aiming at providing therapeutic indexes and objective basis for its diagnosis and treatment.Three hundred and forty-eight cases of RRTI were divided into five groups,including the group of qi deficiency in the lung (or Fei Qi Xu,FQX),the group of invasion of the lung by wind-heat (or Feng Re Fan Fei,FRFF),the group of invasion of lung by wind-cold (or Feng Han Fan Fei,FHFF),the group of obstruction of phlegm-damp in the lung (or Tan Shi Zu Fei,TSZF) and the group of obstruction of phlegm-heat in the lung (or Tan Re Yong Fei,TRYF).65 children of good health were involved in the control group.Z-BOX pulsemeter apparatus was applied to the paraticipants for analyzing their pulse parameters.As a result,it was found that values of h1,h3,h4,h5,t and h4/h1 of RRTI children decreased,compared with the children of good health (P ＜ 0.01);while h1,h3,h4 and h5 of children in FQX group declined (P ＜ 0.01);and the values of h4,h5,t,w,h3/h1,h4/h1 and h5/h1 of children in FRFF group went down (P ＜ 0.01);while the values of h1,h3,h4,h5,t,w,h3/h1 and h4/h1 of TRYF group fell (P ＜ 0.01);and those of h5,t and h5/h1 of children in FHFF group decreased (P ＜ 0.01).Compared with FQX group,h1 value of FRFF group increased (P ＜ 0.01),while the values of w,h3/h1,hs/h1 and w/t of FRFF group declined (P ＜ 0.01);and the h1 value of TSZF group boosted (P ＜ 0.01),while the value of w and h3/h1 of TRYF group decreased (P ＜ 0.01);and the h5/h1 value of FHFF group fell (P ＜ 0.01).In comparison with FRFF group,the values of t,w and h5/h1 of TSZF group went up (P ＜ 0.01),while the values of h1 and h3 of TRYF group declined (P ＜ 0.01).In comparison with TSZF group,the values of h3,h4,t and w of TRYF group went down (P ＜ 0.01),and the t value of FHFF group decreased (P ＜ 0.01).In conclusion,the pulse parameters of RRTI children can be recognized as objective indicators for TCM syndrome differentiations.

On the necessity of developing quality of life instruments in traditional Chinese medicine / 中西医结合学报

The development of health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is increasing rapidly in China, but few studies focus on their necessity. This study explores the necessity of the development of TCM instruments from both theoretical and practice perspectives, and aims to explain whether the adoption of the cross-medical style is valid. Through theoretical analysis, both TCM and Western medicine instruments show the same objectives, whereas TCM instruments are more suitable for the Chinese social behavior, customs and expectations. In practical analysis, 47 TCM instruments were identified, among which 17 had 18 corresponding Western medical instruments. In the domains layer, except for physiological, psychological and social factors, TCM instruments focus more on the harmony between body and spirit, humanity and nature or human and society and the constitution, etc. In the facts layer, TCM instruments focus on the emotions, initiative social intercourse, TCM symptoms, diet, sleep, taste, feces and urine, etc. In addition, significant differences existed in the methods of information selection. There is no need to modify cross-medical style research except when TCM characteristic terms exist, but attention must be paid to the influence of culture in different areas. Therefore, the TCM instruments can resolve the limitations of the application of Western medical instruments to the Chinese setting, while also having remarkable abilities of information coverage and detection. Both forms of instruments have the capacity and requirement to inter-communicate with each other in order to serve the whole Chinese cultural system. Generally speaking, there is no need to modify the instruments in cross-medical style research. But this point requires further demonstration in the rigorous designed clinical trials.