Alternative N-glycosylation has significant structural and functional consequences on immunoglobulin G (IgG) and can affect immune responses, acting as a switch between pro- and anti-inflammatory IgG functionality. Studies have demonstrated that IgG N-glycosylation is associated with ageing, body mass index, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Herein, we have demonstrated patterns of IgG glycosylation that are associated with blood lipids in a cross-sectional study including 598 Han Chinese aged 20–68 years. The IgG glycome composition was analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Blood lipids were positively correlated with glycan peak GP6, whereas they were negatively correlated with GP18 (P < 0.05/57). The canonical correlation analysis indicated that initial N-glycan structures, including GP4, GP6, GP9-12, GP14, GP17, GP18 and GP23, were significantly correlated with blood lipids, including total cholesterol, total triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein (r = 0.390, P < 0.001). IgG glycans patterns were able to distinguish patients with dyslipidaemia from the controls, with an area under the curve of 0.692 (95% confidence interval 0.644–0.740). Our findings indicated that a possible association between blood lipids and the observed loss of galactose and sialic acid, as well as the addition of bisecting GlcNAcs, which might be related to the chronic inflammation accompanying with the development and procession of dyslipidaemia.

A solid understanding of levels and trends of spending on cancer is important to evaluate whether our healthcare resources were wisely spent and to prioritize future resources for cancer treatment and prevention. However, studies on economic burden of cancers in China are scant and the results are inconsistent. The Chinese hospital information database and nearly 350 million inpatient medical record data were used. As the ratios of cancer inpatient payments to total inpatient payments were mainly influenced by the grades and sites of hospitals, the estimates of payments of cancer inpatients in this study were stratified by hospital grades and provinces. Only the payments of cancer inpatients happened in grade 2, grade 3 and specialized cancer hospitals were included in the analyses. The total medical payments of cancers in China were estimated based on the ratios of outpatient payments to inpatient payments in specialized cancer hospitals. From 2011 to 2015, the payments of cancer inpatients in China have increased by 84.1% and the total inpatient payments reached 177.1 billion RMB in 2015, accounting for 4.3% of the total health expenditure in China. Based on the ratio of outpatient payments to inpatient payments, the total payments on cancer treatments in China were estimated to be 221.4 billion RMB in 2015. Among different cancer types, the highest payments were the treatment of trachea, bronchus and lung cancer. The major cancer inpatient payments (67.1% in 2015) spent in grade 3 general hospitals and this ratio increased continually from 2011 to 2015. The expenditure of cancer treatments also varies by region with the major expenditure in the eastern region of China. This study estimated the total payments of cancer treatments in China and analyzed how the money was spent on cancer treatments in the recent 5 years, which would provide information for decision makings on the allocation of resources to service provisioning, prevention strategies, research funding, and assessing whether the economic burden of cancer is affordable to the governments.

Background: Prevalence of acute myocardial infarction ( AMI ) is increasing in China, and AMI has become a major cause of mortality; however, information is very limited about the nationwide geographic and hospital variation in in‐hospital mortality ( IHM ) and the use of percutaneous coronary intervention ( PCI ) after AMI . Methods and Results: From the Nationwide Hospital Discharge Database of China, we identified 242 866 adult admissions with AMI in 2015 from 1055 tertiary hospitals. We used multivariable logistic regressions to analyze the associations between geographic or hospital characteristics with IHM or PCI use. The national IHM rate was 4.71% (95% confidence interval, 4.62–4.79%). There was a greater risk of mortality in the Northeast (odds ratio [ OR ]: 1.86), West ( OR : 1.73), South ( OR : 1.32), and North ( OR : 1.14) regions than in the East region of China. Non–teaching hospitals ( OR : 1.18) and tertiary level B hospitals ( OR : 1.06) were associated with higher IHM rates. The national PCI use rate was 45.3% (95% confidence interval, 45.1–45.5%). Compared with the East region of China, PCI use was lower in the Northeast ( OR : 0.50), West ( OR : 0.64), North ( OR : 0.84), and South ( OR : 0.88) regions. Non–teaching hospitals ( OR : 0.83) and tertiary level B hospitals ( OR : 0.55) were also associated with lower usage rates. There was a significant negative correlation between IHM and PCI use ( r =−0.955), and IHM rates for patients with and without PCI both differed by geographic regions. Conclusions: There were significant differences in IHM and PCI use among China's tertiary hospitals, linked to both geographic and hospital characteristics. More targeted intervention at national and regional levels is needed to improve access to effective health technologies and, eventually, outcomes following AMI .

An understanding of the levels and trends of medical cost is made for breast cancer patients with different medical insurance coverages in China (mainland), in an attempt to offer a clue to further control the costs. The inpatient payments of 9,716,180 breast cancer patients spent in medical institutions of different types and grades during 2011–2015 were collected from the inpatient medical record home page (IMRHP) dataset. The data were then processed with SAS (Version 9.3; SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Indicators like means, increase (decrease) percentages were used to descriptively analyze the average hospitalization expense of each time (AHEET) and its trends of breast cancer patients with different medical insurance coverages treated in medical institutions of different types and grades. In 2011–2015, the AHEET borne by breast cancer patients in China had been constantly increasing. Specifically, the self-pay inpatients had the largest increase, inpatients covered by Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) were the next, and those covered by New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) had the least increase. Breast cancer inpatient treated in public hospitals had quite greater increase and higher expenditure level than those in private hospitals. The AHEET borne by the inpatients in Grade 3 hospitals had greater increase and higher cost than those in Grade 2 hospitals. The inpatient payments of breast cancer patients will be wisely controlled by reducing the number of self-pay inpatients, taking advantage of restriction mechanism of the medical insurances, and promoting healthy competition between private hospitals and public hospitals. The economic burden imposed on the society by breast cancer can be relieved through further control of inpatient payments of UEBMI- and URBMI-covered breast cancer patients and of Grade 3 hospitals.