Perioperative management and operative treatment of malignant tumor of anal canal merging severe abdominal protuberance / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective: To report the perioperative management and robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery results of one case with malignant tumor of anal canal combined with severe abdominal distention. Methods: A 66-year-old male suffer from adenocarcinoma of anal canal (T3N0M0) with megacolon, megabladder and scoliosis. The extreme distention of the colon and bladder result in severe abdominal distention. The left diaphragm moved up markedly and the heart was moved to the right side of the thoracic cavity. Moreover, there was also anal stenosis with incomplete intestinal obstruction. Preoperative preparation: fluid diet, intravenous nutrition and repeated enema to void feces and gas in the large intestine 1 week before operation. Foley catheter was placed three days before surgery and irrigated with saline. After relief of abdominal distention, robotic-assisted abdominoperineal resection+ subtotal colectomy+colostomy was performed. Results: Water intake within 6 hours post-operatively; ambulance on Day 1; anal passage of gas on Day 2; semi-fluid diet on Day 3; safely discharged on Day 6. Conclusion: Robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery is safe and feasible for patients with malignant tumor of anal canal combined with severe abdominal distention after appropriate and effective preoperative preparation to relieve abdominal distention.

Questionnaire investigation of radiation rectal injury with anxiety, depression and somatic disorder / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective: To observe the incidence and treatment of radiation rectal injury complicated with anxiety, depression and somatic symptom disorder. Methods: A cross-sectional survey research method was carried out. Patients with radiation rectal injury managed by members of the editorial board of Chinese Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery were the subjects of investigation. The inclusion criteria of the survey subjects: (1) patients suffered from pelvic tumors and received pelvic radiotherapy; (2) colonoscopy showed inflammatory reaction or ulcer in the rectum. Exclusion criteria: (1) patient had a history of psycho-somatic disease before radiotherapy; (2) patient was unable to use a smart phone, unable to read and understand the questions in the questionnaire displayed on the phone; (3) patient refused to sign an informed consent form. According to the SOMA self-rating scale, PHQ-15 self-rating scale, GAD-7 and PHQ-9 self-rating scale, the electronic questionnaire of "Psychological Survey of Radiation Proctitis" was designed. The questionnaire was sent to patients with radiation rectal injury managed by the committee through the WeChat group. Observational indicators: (1) radiation rectal injury symptom assessment: using SOMA self-rating scale, radiation rectal injury symptom classification: mild group (≤3 points), moderate group (4-6 points) and severe group (> 6 points); (2) incidence of anxiety, depression and physical disorder: using GAD-7, PHQ-9 and PHQ-15 self-rating scales respectively for assessment; (3) correlation of radiation rectal injury symptom grading with anxiety, depression, and somatic symptom disorder. Results: Seventy-one qualified questionnaires were collected, of which 41 (56.9%) were from Guangzhou. Among the 71 patients, 6 were males and 65 were females; the mean age was (55.7±9.3) years old and 48 patients (67.6%) were less than 60 years old; the median confirmed duration of radiation rectal injury was 2.0 (1.0, 5.0) years. (1) Evaluation of symptoms of radiation rectal injury: 18 cases of mild (25.4%), 27 cases of moderate (38.0%), and 26 cases of severe (36.6%). (2) Incidence of anxiety, depression and somatic disorder: 12 patients (16.9%) without comorbidities; 59 patients (83.1%) with anxiety, depression, or somatic disorder, of whom 2 patients only had anxiety, 1 patient only had depression, 9 only had somatic disorder, 2 had anxiety plus depression, 4 had anxiety plus somatic disorder, 2 had depression plus somatic disorder, and 40 had all three symptoms. (3) correlation of radiation rectal injury grading with anxiety, depression, and somatic symptom disorder: as compared to patients in mild group and moderate group, those in severe group had higher severity of anxiety and somatic symptom disorder (Z=-2.143, P=0.032; Z=-2.045, P=0.041), while there was no statistically significant difference of depression between mild group and moderate group (Z=-1.176, P=0.240). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that radiation rectal injury symptom score was positively correlated with anxiety (r=0.300, P=0.013), depression (r=0.287, P=0.015) and somatic symptom disorder (r=0.344, P=0.003). Conclusions: The incidence of anxiety, depression, and somatic symptom disorder in patients with radiation rectal injury is extremely high. It is necessary to strengthen the diagnosis and treatment of somatic symptom disorder, so as to alleviate the symptoms of patients with pelvic perineum pain and improve the quality of life.

hsa-miR-4443 inhibits myocardial fibroblast proliferation by targeting THBS1 to regulate TGF-ß1/α-SMA/collagen signaling in atrial fibrillation

Fibrosis caused by the increase in extracellular matrix in cardiac fibroblasts plays an important role in the occurrence and development of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of hsa-miR-4443 in AF, human cardiac fibroblast (HCFB) proliferation, and extracellular matrix remodeling. TaqMan Stem-loop miRNA assay was used to measure hsa-miR-4443 expression in patients with persistent AF (n=123) and healthy controls (n=100). Patients with AF were confirmed to have atrial fibrosis by late gadolinium enhancement. At the cellular level, after hsa-miR-4443 mimic and inhibitor were transfected with HCFBs, proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were analyzed. Lastly, hsa-miR-4443-targeted gene and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1/α-SMA/collagen pathway were evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assay and western blot, respectively. In patients with AF, hsa-miR-4443 decreased significantly and collagen metabolism level increased significantly. Logistic regression analysis showed that low hsa-miR-4443 level was a risk factor of AF (P<0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that hsa-miR-4443 was useful for predicting AF (area under the curve: 0.828, sensitivity: 0.71, specificity: 0.78, P<0.001). In HCFBs, hsa-miR-4443 targeted thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) and downregulated TGF-β1/α-SMA/collagen pathway. The inhibition of hsa-miR-4443 expression promoted HCFB proliferation, migration, invasion, myofibroblast differentiation, and collagen production. The significant reduction of hsa-miR-4443 can be used as a biomarker for AF. hsa-miR-4443 protected AF by targeting THBS1 and regulated TGF-β1/α-SMA/collagen pathway to inhibit HCFB proliferation and collagen synthesis.

Eye care health behaviors among primary school students in Wenzhou during COVID-19 / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate eye care behaviors among primary students in Wenzhou during Novel Coronavirus epidemic(COVID-19),and to provide a basis for eye care education and myopia prevention strategy.@*Methods@#A total of 1 127 students from grade one to grade six of six primary schools in Wenzhou were selected to participate in an on-line invistigation regarding class attendance and eye care behaviors during the epidemic, March 6-9, 2020.@*Results@#During the epidemic period, the primary school students in Wenzhou mainly took classes on the Internet (936, 83.1%), and the main learning tools were computers (391, 34.7%) and mobile phones (344, 30.5%), with an average of 3.00 h of online class. On average, students needed 2.00 h to complete homework and 1.00 h of extracurricular reading every day. In addition to learning, the daily use of mobile phone or ipad, computer and TV was 1.00,0.50,1.00 h respectively. Limited by the epidemic situation, the average daily exercise time of students was 0.81 h, including 0.00 h of outdoor activities; the average daily sleep was 9.00 h . During the epidemic period, 553 pupils (49.1%) reported eye discomfort, of which the most common was dry eyes (379, 47.4%). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the main learning tools of non-electronic products, reading distance > 30 cm or not reading, exercise time >0.5 h and outdoor activity time > 0.5 h were the protective factors of ocular discomfort (P<0.05). More than 2 h homework and recreational screen time higher than 0.5 h were risk factors for ocular discomfort(P＜0.05).@*Conclusion@#During the epidemic period, online learning increasedeye strain.Time of electronic devices usage,correct posture for reading,moderate level of ourdan physical activity,as well as prevention and treatment of eye strain should be strictly monitored.

Artificial intelligence system of faster region-based convolutional neural network surpassing senior radiologists in evaluation of metastatic lymph nodes of rectal cancer / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#An artificial intelligence system of Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN) is newly developed for the diagnosis of metastatic lymph node (LN) in rectal cancer patients. The primary objective of this study was to comprehensively verify its accuracy in clinical use.@*METHODS@#Four hundred fourteen patients with rectal cancer discharged between January 2013 and March 2015 were collected from 6 clinical centers, and the magnetic resonance imaging data for pelvic metastatic LNs of each patient was identified by Faster R-CNN. Faster R-CNN based diagnoses were compared with radiologist based diagnoses and pathologist based diagnoses for methodological verification, using correlation analyses and consistency check. For clinical verification, the patients were retrospectively followed up by telephone for 36 months, with post-operative recurrence of rectal cancer as a clinical outcome; recurrence-free survivals of the patients were compared among different diagnostic groups, by methods of Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazards regression model.@*RESULTS@#Significant correlations were observed between any 2 factors among the numbers of metastatic LNs separately diagnosed by radiologists, Faster R-CNN and pathologists, as evidenced by rradiologist-Faster R-CNN of 0.912, rPathologist-radiologist of 0.134, and rPathologist-Faster R-CNN of 0.448 respectively. The value of kappa coefficient in N staging between Faster R-CNN and pathologists was 0.573, and this value between radiologists and pathologists was 0.473. The 3 groups of Faster R-CNN, radiologists and pathologists showed no significant differences in the recurrence-free survival time for stage N0 and N1 patients, but significant differences were found for stage N2 patients.@*CONCLUSION@#Faster R-CNN surpasses radiologists in the evaluation of pelvic metastatic LNs of rectal cancer, but is not on par with pathologists.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#www.chictr.org.cn (No. ChiCTR-DDD-17013842).

Mechanism of Xihuang extract in inhibiting proliferation of gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@#[Abstract] Objective: To investigate the effect of Xihuang (XH) extract on the proliferation of gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells and its underlying mechanism. Methods: Gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 was conventionally cultured. CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the effect of different concentrations of XH extracts (3.2, 6.4, 12.8, and 25.6 mg/ml) on proliferation and apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells after treatment for different time periods (24, 48, and 72 h); The effect of different concentrations of XH extracts on the mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes (Bax and Bcl-2) was detected by qPCR; Western blotting was used to detect the effect of XH extracts on the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins (caspase 3, caspase 9, Bax and Bcl-2). Results: XH extracts (3.2, 6.4, 12.8, and 25.6 mg/ml) could effectively inhibit proliferation of gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells (P<0.05 or P<0.01) in a concentration-depend manner (P<0.01). XH extract could significantly up-regulate Bax mRNAand down-regulate Bcl-2 mRNAexpression (P<0.05 or P <0.01); Meanwhile, XH extract ouldincrease protein expressions of caspase 3, caspase 9, Bax but reduce Bcl-2 protein expression (P< 0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: XH extract can inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells by triggering apoptosis, which may become a potential method of adjuvant treatment of gastric cancer.

Alterations of Cajal cells in the colon of slow transit constipation rats / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of expression of c-kit (marker of interstitial cells of Cajal, ICC) in colon with slow transit constipation (STC) in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Slow transit constipation (STC) rat model was induced by intragastric administration of compound diphenoxylate. Western blotting was used to measure the expression of c-kit in colon of STC rats (model group) and normal rats (control group). Gray scale ratio of c-kit to β-actin was used as the relative quantity of c-kit.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fecal quantity per day of STC group was (1.3±0.7) g/100 g, significantly lower than that in normal rats [(1.6±0.9) g/100 g, t=10.798, P<0.05]. In model rats, the time of discharge of the first black fecal was (461.6±150.8) min, significantly longer than that in normal rats [(351.3±119.9) min, t=2.291, P<0.05]. Western blotting revealed that the average values of gray scale ratio of c-kit in proximal colon were 0.277±0.077 and 0.576±0.081 (t=10.719, P<0.05), in distal colon were 0.280±0.075 and 0.571±0.079 (t=10.700, P<0.05) in model group and control group respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Down-regulation of c-kit expression in proximal colon and distal colon is associated to the pathogenesis of slow transit constipation in rats.</p>

Expression of aquaporin 3, 4, and 8 in colonic mucosa of rat models with slow transit constipation / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of aquaporin 3, 4, and 8 in the colonic mucosa of rat models with slow transit constipation (STC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>STC rat model was established by giving the rats the compound solution of diphenoxylate. Real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure the expression of aquaporin mRNA in colonic mucosa of STC rat models (study group,n=16) and normal rats (control group,n=16). Gray scale ratio of aquaporin to β-action (internal reference) was used for quantification.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>RT-PCR revealed that the mean gray scale ratios of aquaporin 3 in the proximal colon of the study group and control group were 0.344 and 0.602 (P<0.05), and were 0.419 and 0.509 in the distal colon (P>0.05), respectively. The mean gray scale ratios of aquaporin 4 in the proximal and the distal colon were 0.764 and 0.759 in the study group (P>0.05), and were 0.776 and 0.736 in the control group (P>0.05), respectively. However, there was no expression of aquaporin 8 in the proximal and the distal colon in either the study group or the control groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Expression of aquaporin 3 in the proximal colon of STC rat models is down-regulated, which regulates water absorption. There are no significant changes in the expressions of aquaporin 4 and 8.</p>

Expression and significance of aquaporin 4 in the colonic mucosa of patients with slow transit constipation / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationship between the expression of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) and slow transit constipation(STC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of AQP4 in the ascending colon mucosa of 45 patients with STC was detected by immunohistochemistry. The transit time of stool was measured with barium sulfate suspensions. Stool was classified using Bristol stool chart. The difference between the pre- and post-operation groups was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 45 STC patients, 36 had high AQP4 expression (high expression group) and 9 had low AQP4 expression(low expression group). Preoperatively 30(83.3%) patients in the high expression group and 3(3/9) patients in the low expression group presented dry and hard stool (type I( or II()(P<0.01). Postoperatively, stool pattern was improved in all the patients of high expression group. One patient in low expression group still presented dry and hard stool(P<0.01). Preoperatively the transit time was(127.3+/-28.2) h in high expression group and (64.2+/-12.9) h in low expression group(P<0.01). Postoperatively, the transit time was (17.3+/-7.0) h in high expression group and (28.0+/-12.6) h in low expression groups(P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>High expression of AQP4 accelerates the water absorption in colon mucosa and may be one of the crucial events in the development of STC.</p>

Expression and significance of aquaporin 3 and aquaporin 9 in colonic mucosa of patients with functional constipation / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression and distribution of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and aquaporin 9 (AQP9) in colonic mucosa of patients with functional constipation, and to examine the relationship of constipation with AQP3 and AQP9.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemistry and semi-quantitative Western blotting were used to detect the expression and distribution of AQP3 and AQP9 in colonic mucosa of 45 patients with functional constipation (trial group) and 21 cases without constipation (control group). Gray scale ratios of AQP3 and AQP9 to beta-actin protein as interior reference were relative amounts of AQP3 and AQP9.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemistry showed that AQP3 was distributed mainly in basement and cavosurface membrane of epithelial cell of colonic mucosa and AQP9 mainly in basement membrane of goblet cell in cavosurface colonic mucosa. Western blotting revealed that the average values of gray scale ratios of AQP3 in ascending colon of trial group and control group were 0.905 and 0.798 (P<0.05),while those of AQP9 were 0.544 and 0.543 (P>0.05), respectively. The average values of gray scale ratios of AQP3 in descending colon of trial group and control group were 0.697 and 0.701 (P>0.05), while those of AQP9 were 0.575 and 0.732 (P<0.05), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Up-regulated expression of AQP3 in ascending colon and down-regulated expression of AQP9 in descending colon are presented in patients with functional constipation as compared to patients without functional constipation. AQP3 and AQP9 may play a significant role in the onset and development of constipation.</p>