Utility of GPR68 and TIL in TPF-induced chemotherapy and prognosis evaluation in middle-advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To evaluate the roles of G Protein-Coupled Receptor 68 (GPR68) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in TPF-(paclitaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) induced chemotherapy for middle-advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas. Methods: A total of 31 patients with middle-advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma before TPF-inducted chemotherapy were enrolled from September 2012 to November 2017 in Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, including 28 males and 3 females, aged 43 to 71 years old. The expression of GPR68 and tumor infiltrating CD4+and CD8+T cells before chemotherapy was detected by immunohistochemical staining, and the relationships between GPR68 expression and clinical features, chemotherapy efficacy and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using t-test. Results: After 3 cycles of chemotherapy, there were 4, 14, 10 and 3 patients respectively with complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). The positive rates of GPR68 and CD8 were 25% and 40% respectively in the effective group (CR+PR), while 50% and 15% in the ineffective group (SD+PD), with statistically significant differences between two groups (t=5.17 and 12.86,P<0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that GPR68 was negatively correlated with CD8+T cells (r=-0.64,P<0.001). There was no significant correlation between the CD4 expression and TPF efficacy (P>0.05). The mean OS was 12.5 months in patients with high-expressed GPR68 and 25.0 months in patients with low-expressed GPR68, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.005). And mean OS was 25.0 months in patients with high-expressed CD8 and 14.5 months in low-expressed CD8, with a statistically significant difference (HR=2.58, P=0.019). Cox regression analysis showed that GPR68 and CD8+T cells were significant prognostic factors (OR(95%CI)=3.27(2.46-5.97) and 1.53(0.78-1.82), all P<0.05), while CD4 had no significant effect on prognosis (P>0.05). Conclusion: GPR68 and CD8+T cells are expected to be biomarkers for evaluating the efficacy and prognosis of TPF-induced chemotherapy in patients with middle-advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Clinical significance and influencing factors of linked color imaging technique in real-time diagnosis of active Helicobacter pylori infection / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Determining the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection state during the gastroscopic process is important but still challenging. The linked color imaging (LCI) technique might emphasize the mucosal color change after H. pylori infection, which might help the diagnosis. In the present study, we aimed to compare the LCI technique with traditional white light imaging (WLI) endoscopy for diagnosing active H. pylori infection.@*METHODS@#We collected and analyzed gastroscopic images from 103 patients in our hospital from November 2017 to March 2018, including both LCI and WLI modes. All images were randomly disordered and independently evaluated by four endoscopists who were blinded to the H. pylori status of patients. In addition, the H. pylori state was determined by both rapid urease test and pathology staining. The sensitivity, specificity, positive prediction value (PPV), and negative prediction value (NPV) were calculated for the detection of H. pylori infection. Moreover, the kappa value and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to evaluate the inter-observer variety by SPSS 24.0 software.@*RESULTS@#Of the 103 enrolled patients, 27 of them were positive for H. pylori infection, while the 76 patients were negative. In total, 388 endoscopic images were selected, including 197 WLI and 191 LCI. The accuracy rate for H. pylori evaluation in the corpus LCI group was significantly higher than other groups (81.2% vs. 64.3%-76.5%, χ = 34.852, P < 0.001). Moreover, the corpus LCI group had the optimal diagnostic power with the sensitivity of 85.41% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 76.40%-91.51%), the specificity of 79.71% (95% CI: 74.38%-84.19%), the PPV of 59.42% (95% CI: 50.72%-67.59%), and the NPV of 94.02% (95% CI: 89.95%-96.56%), respectively. The kappa values between different endoscopists were higher with LCI than with WLI (0.433-0.554 vs. 0.331-0.554). Consistently, the ICC value was also higher with LCI than with WLI (0.501 [95% CI: 0.429-0.574] vs. 0.397 [95% CI: 0.323-0.474]). We further analyzed the factors that might lead to misjudgment, revealing that active inflammation might disturb WLI judgment (accuracy rate: 58.70% vs. 76.16%, χ = 21.373, P < 0.001). Atrophy and intestinal metaplasia might affect the accuracy of the LCI results (accuracy rate: 66.96% vs. 73.47%, χ = 2.027; 68.42% vs. 73.53%, χ = 1.594, respectively); however, without statistical significance (P = 0.154 and 0.207, respectively).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The application of LCI at the corpus to identify H. pylori infection is reliable and superior to WLI. The inter-observer variability is lower with LCI than with WLI.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1800016730; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=28400.

Clinical significance and influencing factors of linked color imaging technique in real-time diagnosis of active Helicobacter pylori infection / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Background@#Determining the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection state during the gastroscopic process is important but still challenging. The linked color imaging (LCI) technique might emphasize the mucosal color change after H. pylori infection, which might help the diagnosis. In the present study, we aimed to compare the LCI technique with traditional white light imaging (WLI) endoscopy for diagnosing active H. pylori infection.@*Methods@#We collected and analyzed gastroscopic images from 103 patients in our hospital from November 2017 to March 2018, including both LCI and WLI modes. All images were randomly disordered and independently evaluated by four endoscopists who were blinded to the H. pylori status of patients. In addition, the H. pylori state was determined by both rapid urease test and pathology staining. The sensitivity, specificity, positive prediction value (PPV), and negative prediction value (NPV) were calculated for the detection of H. pylori infection. Moreover, the kappa value and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to evaluate the inter-observer variety by SPSS 24.0 software.@*Results@#Of the 103 enrolled patients, 27 of them were positive for H. pylori infection, while the 76 patients were negative. In total, 388 endoscopic images were selected, including 197 WLI and 191 LCI. The accuracy rate for H. pylori evaluation in the corpus LCI group was significantly higher than other groups (81.2% vs. 64.3%-76.5%, χ2 = 34.852, P < 0.001). Moreover, the corpus LCI group had the optimal diagnostic power with the sensitivity of 85.41% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 76.40%-91.51%), the specificity of 79.71% (95% CI: 74.38%-84.19%), the PPV of 59.42% (95% CI: 50.72%-67.59%), and the NPV of 94.02% (95% CI: 89.95%-96.56%), respectively. The kappa values between different endoscopists were higher with LCI than with WLI (0.433-0.554 vs. 0.331-0.554). Consistently, the ICC value was also higher with LCI than with WLI (0.501 [95% CI: 0.429-0.574] vs. 0.397 [95% CI: 0.323-0.474]). We further analyzed the factors that might lead to misjudgment, revealing that active inflammation might disturb WLI judgment (accuracy rate: 58.70% vs. 76.16%, χ2 = 21.373, P < 0.001). Atrophy and intestinal metaplasia might affect the accuracy of the LCI results (accuracy rate: 66.96% vs. 73.47%, χ2 = 2.027; 68.42% vs. 73.53 %, χ2 = 1.594, respectively); however, without statistical significance (P = 0.154 and 0.207, respectively).@*Conclusions@#The application of LCI at the corpus to identify H. pylori infection is reliable and superior to WLI. The inter-observer variability is lower with LCI than with WLI.@*Trial registration@#Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1800016730; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=28400

Genotype, environment and their interactions of functional components in Rheum tanguticum / 中国中药杂志

Six kinds of provenance of Rheum tanguticum collected from Qinghai province as the test materials, which were transplanted under 3 different environments by using complete randomized block design with three replicates. The contents of the chemical components was determined by HPLC. This study aimed at analyzing the effect of genotype, environment and their interactions on the 4 kinds of functional components (phenolic acids, bianthrone, free anthraquinones and combined anthraquinones) in 14 kinds of active components of Rh. tanguticum, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the selection of cultivated Rh. tanguticum in high quality producing area and excellent provenance. The provenance trial showed that the genotype and environment influence on the effect of all kinds of functional components in Rh. tanguticum were significant (<0.05). The content of phenolic acids was mainly influenced by environment, and the other three kinds of functional components were affected by environment and their interactions. The proportion of environment was larger. The cultivation quality of Rh. tanguticum should give priority to environment, then choose a provenance. Sichuan may be beneficial in accumulation of combined anthraquinones in Rh. tanguticum, Gansu may facilitate the binding of free anthraquinone, phenolic acids and bianthrone content. Preliminary inference based on the content and proportion of efficacy components, T4 could be potential special medicinal germplasm that have function of heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs and activate blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis; T3 and T6 could all be potential specialmedicinal germplasms that exist diarrhea attack characters. The results of this study have certain guiding significance for the production of rhubarb precision medicinal materials.

Diagnostic significance of intraoperative ultrasound contrast in evaluating the resection degree of brain glioma by transmission electron microscopic examination / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a dynamic and continuous modality providing real-time view of vascularization and flow distribution patterns of different organs and tumors. In order to evaluate the diagnostic significance of intraoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound in assessing the resection degree of brain glioma by transmission electron microscopic (TEM) examination, it is important to have specific knowledge about contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Methods : Ultrasound contrast was applied in operations of 120 cases of brain glioma, to evaluate the degree of tumor resection. Biopsy tissues were obtained the suspicious residual tumors surrounding the tumor cavity. The sensitivity and specificity of the residual tumors were determined by the intraoperative ultrasound contrast according to TEM examination results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 44 cases of low-grade gliomas and 76 cases of high-grade gliomas. Three hundred and sixty biopsy tissues were obtained. The sensitivity of intraoperative ultrasound contrast in diagnosing the residual tumor was 62.2%, while the specificity degree of it was 92.8%. The consistency coefficient of the ultrasound contrast diagnosis and TEM examination results was 0.584 (Kappa = 0.584), which was between 0.4 and 0.6, therefore it was of medium consistency. Conclusions : Intraoperative ultrasound contrast was of a high sensitivity and specificity in evaluating the excision degree of tumor. The consistency of the residual tumor rate detected, respectively, by ultrasound contrast and TEM examination was of medium consistency. The application of intraoperative ultrasound contrast can improve the resection rate of brain glioma.</p>