Correlation between myopia progression and visual performance in children / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

The incidence of myopia among Chinese adolescents is progressively rising, indicating a distinct trend toward younger age onset.This paper aims to comprehensively review the impact of various visual performance on myopia and its progression, with a specific emphasis on accommodative function, convergence function, and ocular position. A meticulous exploration of accommodation function, encompassing accommodative amplitude, accommodative facility, accommodative response, positive relative accommodation, and negative relative accommodation, has been undertaken to elucidate its contributory role in myopia progression. Concurrently, an exhaustive analysis of convergence function has been conducted including esotropia and exotropia, convergence insufficiency and convergence excess, fusional function vergence, divergence insufficiency, and excess, providing a nuanced understanding of convergence's implications for myopia advancement. Furthermore, the influence of ocular position on myopia progression, along with other factors affecting perceptual ocular position and intermittent exotropia, is discussed. The primary objective of this article is to unveil the multifaceted visual performance influencing myopia and its progression, elucidating the paramount significance of accommodative function, convergence function, and ocular position in this context.

Effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in treatment of mice with liver fibrosis and its mechanism / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells （hUCMSCs） in the treatment of mice with liver fibrosis and its mechanism. MethodsA total of 18 specific pathogen-free C57BL/6 mice， aged 6 weeks， were selected and divided into control group （n=6）， carbon tetrachloride （CCl4） model group （CCl4 group， n=6）， and hUCMSCs treatment group （MSC group， n=6） using a random number table. The mice in the CCl4 group and the MSC group were given intraperitoneal injection of CCl4 solution to establish a mouse model of liver fibrosis， while those in the control group were injected with the same dose of corn oil， and the mice in the MSC group were injected with hUCMSCs via the caudal vein during the injection of CCl4. At the end of week 8， mouse serum was collected， and the mice were sacrificed to collect and fix the liver. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the levels of inflammatory factors； an automatic biochemical detector was used to measure liver function parameters； HE staining， Masson staining， Sirius Red staining， and α-SMA immunofluorescence assay were used to evaluate liver fibrosis. Hepatic stellate cells （HSCs） stimulated by TGF-β were co-cultured with hUCMSCs in the medium with or without chitinase-3 like-protein-1 （CHI3L1）， and Western blot was used to measure the expression levels of proteins. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups， and the Dunnett’s t-test was used for further comparison between two groups. ResultsMasson staining and Sirius Red staining showed that the CCl4 group had a significantly higher degree of fibrosis than the control group （both P<0.05）， and the MSC group had significant alleviation of fibrosis compared with the CCl4 group （both P<0.05）. Compared with the control group， the CCl4 group had significant increases in the levels of interleukin-1β， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， and alkaline phosphatase （ALP） （all P<0.05）， and compared with the CCl4 group， the MSC group had significant reductions in the levels of IL-6， AST， ALT， and ALP （all P<0.05）. The CCl4 group had significantly higher expression levels of CHI3L1 and α-SMA than the control group and the MSC group （all P<0.05）. The cell culture experiment showed that the MSC+HSC group had a significantly higher expression level of Bax than the HSC group and the MSC+CHI3L1 group （both P<0.05）， suggesting that CHI3L1 reversed the pro-apoptotic effect of MSC on activated HSCs. ConclusionThis study shows that hUCMSCs can improve liver fibrosis in mice， possibly by inhibiting CHI3L1 to promote the apoptosis of HSCs.

Potassium dehydroandrographolide succinate regulates the MyD88/CDH13 signaling pathway to enhance vascular injury-induced pathological vascular remodeling / 中国天然药物

Pathological vascular remodeling is a hallmark of various vascular diseases. Previous research has established the significance of andrographolide in maintaining gastric vascular homeostasis and its pivotal role in modulating endothelial barrier dysfunction, which leads to pathological vascular remodeling. Potassium dehydroandrographolide succinate (PDA), a derivative of andrographolide, has been clinically utilized in the treatment of inflammatory diseases precipitated by viral infections. This study investigates the potential of PDA in regulating pathological vascular remodeling. The effect of PDA on vascular remodeling was assessed through the complete ligation of the carotid artery in C57BL/6 mice. Experimental approaches, including rat aortic primary smooth muscle cell culture, flow cytometry, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay, Boyden chamber cell migration assay, spheroid sprouting assay, and Matrigel-based tube formation assay, were employed to evaluate the influence of PDA on the proliferation and motility of smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Molecular docking simulations and co-immunoprecipitation assays were conducted to examine protein interactions. The results revealed that PDA exacerbates vascular injury-induced pathological remodeling, as evidenced by enhanced neointima formation. PDA treatment significantly increased the proliferation and migration of SMCs. Further mechanistic studies disclosed that PDA upregulated myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) expression in SMCs and interacted with T-cadherin (CDH13). This interaction augmented proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition, culminating in pathological vascular remodeling. Our findings underscore the critical role of PDA in the regulation of pathological vascular remodeling, mediated through the MyD88/CDH13 signaling pathway.

Construction of a Prognostic Prediction Model of Patients with Pathologic N0 in Resected Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Lung / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) was a rare and specific type of lung adenocarcinoma, which was often characterized by fewer lymphatic metastases. Therefore, it was difficult to evaluate the prognosis of these tumors based on the existing tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging. So, this study aimed to develop Nomograms to predict outcomes of patients with pathologic N0 in resected IMA.@*METHODS@#According to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, IMA patients with pathologic N0 in The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University (training cohort, n=78) and Ningbo No.2 Hospital (validation cohort, n=66) were reviewed between July 2012 and May 2017. The prognostic value of the clinicopathological features in the training cohort was analyzed and prognostic prediction models were established, and the performances of models were evaluated. Finally, the validation cohort data was put in for external validation.@*RESULTS@#Univariate analysis showed that pneumonic type, larger tumor size, mixed mucinous/non-mucinous component, and higher overall stage were significant influence factors of 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis further indicated that type of imaging, tumor size, mucinous component were the independent prognostic factors for poor 5-year PFS and OS. Moreover, the 5-year PFS and OS rates were 62.82% and 75.64%, respectively. In subgroups, the survival analysis also showed that the pneumonic type and mixed mucinous/non-mucinous patients had significantly poorer 5-year PFS and OS compared with solitary type and pure mucinous patients, respectively. The C-index of Nomograms with 5-year PFS and OS were 0.815 (95%CI: 0.741-0.889) and 0.767 (95%CI: 0.669-0.865). The calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) of both models showed good predictive performances in both cohorts.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The Nomograms based on clinicopathological characteristics in a certain extent, can be used as an effective prognostic tool for patients with pathologic N0 after IMA resection.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension: analysis of 118 patients ' clinical characteristics / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To summarize the clinical features, radiological characteristics, therapy, and outcome of patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH).Methods:The general information, clinical manifestations, auxiliary examinations, treatment, and outcomes in consecutive patients of SIH hospitalized in the Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University from November 2018 to October 2022 were analyzed.Results:A total of 118 patients with a female-to-male ratio of 5∶4 were included and the ages were 17.00-71.00[39.00(34.00,46.75)]years with a preponderance in the age of 30-49 years. Almost all patients had orthostatic headaches (117/118, 99.2%), accompanied by nausea (90/118, 76.3%), vomiting (70/118, 59.3%), neck stiffness (88/118, 74.6%), tinnitus (57/118, 48.3%), and ear fullness (57/118, 48.3%). Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed dural enhancement (97/113, 85.8%), enlarged venous sinus (88/113, 77.9%), subdural fluid collection (46/113, 40.7%), decreased suprasellar cistern (86/113, 76.1%), effacement of the prepontine cistern (86/113, 76.1%), diminished mamillopontine distance (80/113, 70.8%). The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks were detected in 90.7% (107/118) of the patients by magnetic resonance myelography but 54.3% (25/46) and 52.6% (20/38) by CT myelography and magnetic resonance myelography with gadolinium. Lumber puncture found CSF pressure<60 mmH 2O (1 mmH 2O=0.009 8 kPa) in 18.4% (19/103) of patients, increased CSF red blood cell counts in 50.6% (44/87) of patients, CSF pleocytosis in 44.8% (39/87) of patients, increased CSF protein concentrations in 57.5% (50/87) of patients. The headache completely disappeared after conservative treatment in 24.6% (31/118) of patients and after a single targeted epidural blood patch in 89.7% (78/87) of patients. A rebound headache after epidural blood patch treatment occurred in 66.0% (58/87) of patients. Conclusions:The patients with SIH almost manifested with orthostatic headache, and brain MRI and magnetic resonance myelography were suggested in those patients instead of CSF pressure by lumber puncture. Targeted epidural blood patch was effective and safe in SIH patients.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension caused by high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks: analysis of 6 patients / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To analyze the clinical features of 6 patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension caused by high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks.Methods:The clinical characteristics, auxiliary examinations, treatment, and outcomes in 6 patients of spontaneous intracranial hypotension caused by high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks enrolled in the Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University from February 2021 to April 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.Results:All the 6 patients had orthostatic headaches. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed dural enhancement and brain sagging and magnetic resonance myelography showed longitudinal extradural collection in all the patients. The high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks were demonstrated in upper thoracic segments by the dynamic myelography. The headache disappeared after conservative treatment in 2 patients and treatment with targeted epidural blood patch in 4 patients.Conclusions:The diagnosis of spontaneous intracranial hypotension caused by high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks with typical orthostatic headache and brain magnetic resonance imaging and myelography findings is not difficult. However, the localization of the site of high-flow spinal cerebrospinal fluid leaks in spontaneous intracranial hypotension depends on the dynamic myelography. Targeted epidural blood patch is effective, but conservative treatment does not always work.

Analysis of the molecular typing and clinicopathological features of POLE and POLD1 gene mutations in middle-aged and elderly patients with colorectal cancer / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective:To examine the clinicopathological and molecular pathological characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer(CRC)who have mutations in the POLE and POLD1 genes.Methods:In this study, we retrospectively collected data from 276 middle-aged and elderly patients aged 45 years and over who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer at Beijing Hospital between October 2020 and September 2022.We utilized next generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis to screen for harmful germline and somatic mutations in the POLE and POLD1 genes.The study involved 276 patients, who were divided into three groups based on their genetic mutations.The deleterious mutation group had 6 cases, the mutation of unknown significance group had 18 cases, and the wild type group had 252 cases.We also collected clinical and pathological features of the patients and analyzed their correlation with other molecular pathological results such as tumor mutation burden(TMB), microsatellite instability(MSI), and gene co-mutation.Results:No germline mutations were detected in the POLE and POLD1 genes across all patients.Out of the 276 patients, 18(6.5%)were found to carry POLE mutations.Among these, 6(2.2%)were classified as deleterious mutations, 12(4.3%)were positive for POLE mutations of unknown significance, and the remaining patients had wild type POLE genes.Out of the 276 patients, POLD1 gene mutations of unknown significance were found in 10 patients(3.6%). Among the 276 patients, 5 cases(1.8%)carried two types of gene mutations.Patients in the deleterious mutation group showed earlier tumor stage( P<0.05)and a higher prevalence of low-grade tumor budding( P<0.05), with 6 patients being affected by this.Compared to the wild type group, colon cancer patients showed a higher frequency of deleterious mutations and variants of unknown significance in the poorly differentiated group( P<0.05). The median TMB in the deleterious mutation group was 257.76 muts/Mb, 74.4 muts/Mb in the mutation of unknown significance group, and 5.81 muts/Mb in the wild type group.The study found significant differences in TMB-H status among the three groups, with all P-values less than 0.01.MSI-H status was detected in 1 case(16.7%, 1/6), 14 cases(77.8%, 14/18), and 18 cases(7.1%, 18/276)in the deleterious mutation group, variant of undetermined significance group, and wild type group, respectively.Notably, patients with variants of undetermined significance had a higher MSI-H status than patients with wild type and POLE deleterious mutations, with all P-values less than 0.01.The frequencies of co-mutations in KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA were higher in the deleterious mutation group compared to the mutation of undetermined significance group and wild type group(all P<0.05). Conclusions:Colorectal cancer(CRC)patients with harmful mutations and variants of undetermined significance exhibit unique clinicopathological features.Patients with variants of undetermined significance are more likely to develop colon cancer, show poor differentiation, and have higher frequencies of TMB-H(tumor mutational burden)and MSI-H(microsatellite instability-high).

Evidence-based guideline for clinical diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults (version 2023) / 中华创伤杂志

The acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults have a higher rate of neurological injury and early death compared with atlas or axial fractures alone. Currently, the diagnosis and treatment choices of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults are controversial because of the lack of standards for implementation. Non-operative treatments have a high incidence of bone nonunion and complications, while surgeries may easily lead to the injury of the vertebral artery, spinal cord and nerve root. At present, there are no evidence-based Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults. To provide orthopedic surgeons with the most up-to-date and effective information in treating acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts in the field of spinal trauma to develop the Evidence-based guideline for clinical diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults ( version 2023) by referring to the "Management of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults" published by American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) in 2013 and the relevant Chinese and English literatures. Ten recommendations were made concerning the radiological diagnosis, stability judgment, treatment rules, treatment options and complications based on medical evidence, aiming to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults.

Clinical guideline for diagnosis and treatment of adult ankylosing spondylitis combined with thoracolumbar fracture (version 2023) / 中华创伤杂志

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with spinal fractures with thoracic and lumbar fracture as the most common type shows characteristics of unstable fracture, high incidence of nerve injury, high mortality and high disability rate. The diagnosis may be missed because it is mostly caused by low-energy injury, when spinal rigidity and osteoporosis have a great impact on the accuracy of imaging examination. At the same time, the treatment choices are controversial, with no relevant specifications. Non-operative treatments can easily lead to bone nonunion, pseudoarthrosis and delayed nerve injury, while surgeries may be failed due to internal fixation failure. At present, there are no evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with thoracic and lumbar fracture. In this context, the Spinal Trauma Academic Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate the Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of adult ankylosing spondylitis combined with thoracolumbar fracture ( version 2023) by following the principles of evidence-based medicine and systematically review related literatures. Ten recommendations on the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, classification and treatment of AS combined with thoracic and lumbar fracture were put forward, aiming to standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment of such disorder.

Distribution and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria of biliary tract infection in patients subjected to hepatobiliary surgery / 中国基层医药

Objective:To study the distribution and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria of biliary tract infection in patients with hepatobiliary surgery.Methods:A total of 103 patients with biliary tract infection who received treatment in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Lanxi People's Hospital from May 2020 to October 2022 were included in this study. Their bile was cultured to analyze the distribution and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria. The data were processed using the WHONET5.5 software system.Results:Fifty-eight pathogenic bacteria-positive samples were cultured from the bile of 103 patients with biliary tract infection, with a pathogenic bacteria-positive rate of 56.31%. Among 58 strains of pathogenic bacteria, 38 strains (65.52%) were gram-negative bacteria, mainly Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia, and 5 strains (8.62%) were fungal strains. Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were highly resistant to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, and other antibacterial drugs, and were completely sensitive to imipenem and meropenem. Enterococcus faecalis was mainly resistant to ampicillin and penicillin G,and it was completely sensitive to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Staphylococcus aureus was resistant to vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, and other drugs. A total of 13 strains of ultrabroad-spectrum beta-lactamase bacteria were isolated from 25 strains of Escherichia coli and 7 strains of Klebsiella pneumonia, with the positive detection rate of 40.63%. Conclusion:The main pathogenic bacteria of biliary tract infection are Gram-negative bacteria, which are widely distributed and have serious drug resistance. In clinical practice, antimicrobial drugs should be reasonably selected according to the results of bile drug sensitivity tests.

Effect of homogeneous management combined with staged teaching on physicians receiving standardized training of hepatobiliary surgery / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of homogeneous management combined with staged teaching on physicians receiving standardized training of hepatobiliary surgery.Methods:A total of 46 physicians who received standardized training in Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, from January to March 2020 were selected as control group and were given conventional teaching, and 50 physicians who received standardized training from April to June 2020 were selected as observation group and were given homogeneous management combined with staged teaching. The two groups were compared in terms of professional level, clinical ability, and the degree of satisfaction with teaching before and after teaching. SPSS 24.0 was used to perform the independent samples t-test, the paired t-test, the chi-square test, and the rank sum test. Results:After teaching, both groups had significant increases in the scores of theoretical examination and operation skill examination, and compared with the control group, the observation group had significantly higher scores of theoretical examination (94.57±3.28 vs. 90.32±2.12) and operation skill examination (94.37±4.18 vs. 91.25±3.46). After teaching, both groups had significant increases in the scores of clinical consultation, physical examination, humanistic concern, clinical diagnosis, communication ability, organizational ability, and overall evaluation, and the observation group had significantly higher scores of the above seven aspects than the control group (6.98±0.94/6.45±0.14/6.95±0.88/6.65±0.93/6.53±0.26/6.84±0.92/6.58±0.35 vs. 6.13±0.31/6.21±0.76/6.21±0.42/6.18±0.35/6.32±0.61/6.33±0.24/6.25±0.71). The observation group had a significantly higher overall satisfaction rate than the control group [94.00% (47/50) vs. 78.26% (36/46)].Conclusion:In the standardized training and teaching of hepatobiliary surgery, homogeneous management combined with staged teaching can improve the professional level and clinical ability of physicians and enhance the degree of satisfaction with teaching.

High-throughput transcriptional profiling of perturbations by Panax ginseng saponins and Panax notoginseng saponins using TCM-seq / 药物分析学报

Panax ginseng(PG)and Panax notoginseng(PN)are highly valuable Chinese medicines(CM).Although both CMs have similar active constituents,their clinical applications are clearly different.Over the past decade,RNA sequencing(RNA-seq)analysis has been employed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of extracts or monomers.However,owing to the limited number of samples in standard RNA-seq,few studies have systematically compared the effects of PG and PN spanning multiple conditions at the transcriptomic level.Here,we developed an approach that simultaneously profiles transcriptome changes for multiplexed samples using RNA-seq(TCM-seq),a high-throughput,low-cost workflow to molecularly evaluate CM perturbations.A species-mixing experiment was conducted to illustrate the accuracy of sample multiplexing in TCM-seq.Transcriptomes from repeated samples were used to verify the robustness of TCM-seq.We then focused on the primary active components,Panax notoginseng sa-ponins(PNS)and Panax ginseng saponins(PGS)extracted from PN and PG,respectively.We also char-acterized the transcriptome changes of 10 cell lines,treated with four different doses of PNS and PGS,using TCM-seq to compare the differences in their perturbing effects on genes,functional pathways,gene modules,and molecular networks.The results of transcriptional data analysis showed that the tran-scriptional patterns of various cell lines were significantly distinct.PGS exhibited a stronger regulatory effect on genes involved in cardiovascular disease,whereas PNS resulted in a greater coagulation effect on vascular endothelial cells.This study proposes a paradigm to comprehensively explore the differences in mechanisms of action between CMs based on transcriptome readouts.

Drug resistance factors in postoperative gemcitabine chemotherapy after radical resection of pancreatic cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the drug resistance factors in postoperative gemci-tabine chemotherapy after radical resection of pancreatic cancer.Methods:The retrospective case-control study was constructed. The clinicopathological data of 255 patients with pancreatic cancer who were firstly admitted to the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi ′an Jiaotong University from January 2018 to June 2021 were collected. There were 140 males and 115 females, aged (59±10)years. All patients underwent radical resection of pancreatic cancer and received postoperative gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Observation indicators: (1) follow-up; (2) postoperative chemotherapy; (3) drug resistance and changing of regimen; (4) factors influencing postoperative chemotherapy resistance. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the independent sample t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3), and compari-son between groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was conducted using the Pearson chi-square test. Univariate analysis was conducted using the corresponding statistical methods based on data type. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Logistic regression model with forward method. Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw survival curve, and Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Results:(1) Follow-up. All 255 patients were followed up for 18.6(16.7,21.4)months. The median survival time of 255 patients was 18.2[95% confidence interval ( CI) as 15.8-20.6]months. (2) Postoperative chemotherapy. Of the 255 patients, there were 5 cases receiving postoperative chemotherapy as gemcitabine monotherapy, 167 cases receiving postoperative chemotherapy as the AG combination (gemcitabine plus albumin-bound paclitaxel), 74 cases receiving postoperative chemotherapy as the GS combination (gemcitabine plus S-1) and 9 cases receiving postoperative chemotherapy as the GP combination (gemcitabine plus platinum). (3) Drug resistance and changing of regimen. Of the 255 patients, 81 cases completed the course of postoperative chemotherapy and evaluation. Of the 81 patients, there were 18 cases with no recurrence or metastasis of tumor, 10 cases with tumor local recurrence, 40 cases with tumor lymph node metastasis or distant metas-tasis, 3 cases with tumor local recurrence combined with distant metastasis, 10 cases with elevation of CA19-9. Of the 81 patients, 18 cases responded to chemotherapy, 63 cases underwent resistant to chemotherapy, including 11 cases with primary resistance and 52 cases with acquired resistance. The 63 patients with chemotherapy resistance underwent changing of regimen. (4) Factors influencing postoperative chemotherapy resistance. Results of multivariate analysis showed that chemotherapy cycle<6 is an independent risk factor for postoperative chemotherapy resistance in patients ( hazard ratio=17.18, 95% CI as 2.07-142.28, P<0.05). Conclusion:Adjuvant chemotherapy cycle <6 is an independent risk factor for postoperative chemotherapy resistance for gemcitabine based chemo-therapy in pancreatic cancer patients receiving radical resection.

Establishment and verification of method for detection of hydrogen sulfide in organs by fluorescent probe method / 中国药理学通报

Aim To rapidly prepare and purify hydrogen sulfide specific fluorescent probe (WSP-5), establish and optimize the fluorescent probe method for the determination of hydrogen sulfide in animal tissues, and verify the applicability of the method in the model of malignant pleural effusion. Methods The preparation solvent of fluorescent probe reaction solution, DMSO addition volume, pH, reaction solution solvent and reaction solution volume, sample pretreatment temperature, grinding times, and standing time after grinding were investigated. The mouses model of malignant pleural effusion was established with S-180 ascites tumor cells, and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in various organs and tissues of the model animal was measured. Results After optimization, silica gel and dextran gel were used as stationary phases, dichloromethane methanol formic acid (60: 1: 0.1, V/V/V) and dichloromethane methanol (1: 1, V/V) were used as eluents for separation and purification, and the first eluting component was taken to prepare WSP-5 with a purity of more than 700 mg. Animal tissue samples and sodium hydrosulfide standard solution were added with 5 times of cold reaction solution, after low temperature vibration grinding, highspeed centrifugation, the supernatant was incubated in dark for 12 hours, the fluorescence intensity was measured by fluorescent microplate reader. Hydrogen sulfide concentration was calculated according to the standard curve. The LOD of this method was about 0. 6 |JLmol • L

Eplerenone protects contralateral kidney tissue from obstruction in pregnant rats with chronic kidney disease / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study the protective effect of eplerenone on the contralateral kidney in pregnant rats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its mechanism. Methods Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group, sham-operation pregnancy group, model group and eplerenone group. The rats in the model group and eplenone group had ligation unilateral ureter, and the rats in the eplenone group were treated with 100 mg • kg

High frequency of alternative splicing variants of the oncogene Focal Adhesion Kinase in neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and breast / 医学前沿

The characteristic genetic abnormality of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs), a heterogeneous group of tumors found in various organs, remains to be identified. Here, based on the analysis of the splicing variants of an oncogene Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) in The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets that contain 9193 patients of 33 cancer subtypes, we found that Box 6/Box 7-containing FAK variants (FAK6/7) were observed in 7 (87.5%) of 8 pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas and 20 (11.76%) of 170 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs). We tested FAK variants in 157 tumor samples collected from Chinese patients with pancreatic tumors, and found that FAK6/7 was positive in 34 (75.6%) of 45 pancreatic NENs, 19 (47.5%) of 40 pancreatic solid pseudopapillary neoplasms, and 2 (2.9%) of 69 PDACs. We further tested FAK splicing variants in breast neuroendocrine carcinoma (BrNECs), and found that FAK6/7 was positive in 14 (93.3%) of 15 BrNECs but 0 in 23 non-NEC breast cancers. We explored the underlying mechanisms and found that a splicing factor serine/arginine repetitive matrix protein 4 (SRRM4) was overexpressed in FAK6/7-positive pancreatic tumors and breast tumors, which promoted the formation of FAK6/7 in cells. These results suggested that FAK6/7 could be a biomarker of NENs and represent a potential therapeutic target for these orphan diseases.

Artemisinins inhibit oral candidiasis caused by Candida albicans through the repression on its hyphal development / 国际口腔科学杂志·英文版

Candida albicans is the most abundant fungal species in oral cavity. As a smart opportunistic pathogen, it increases the virulence by switching its forms from yeasts to hyphae and becomes the major pathogenic agent for oral candidiasis. However, the overuse of current clinical antifungals and lack of new types of drugs highlight the challenges in the antifungal treatments because of the drug resistance and side effects. Anti-virulence strategy is proved as a practical way to develop new types of anti-infective drugs. Here, seven artemisinins, including artemisinin, dihydroartemisinin, artemisinic acid, dihydroartemisinic acid, artesunate, artemether and arteether, were employed to target at the hyphal development, the most important virulence factor of C. albicans. Artemisinins failed to affect the growth, but significantly inhibited the hyphal development of C. albicans, including the clinical azole resistant isolates, and reduced their damage to oral epithelial cells, while arteether showed the strongest activities. The transcriptome suggested that arteether could affect the energy metabolism of C. albicans. Seven artemisinins were then proved to significantly inhibit the productions of ATP and cAMP, while reduced the hyphal inhibition on RAS1 overexpression strain indicating that artemisinins regulated the Ras1-cAMP-Efg1 pathway to inhibit the hyphal development. Importantly, arteether significantly inhibited the fungal burden and infections with no systemic toxicity in the murine oropharyngeal candidiasis models in vivo caused by both fluconazole sensitive and resistant strains. Our results for the first time indicated that artemisinins can be potential antifungal compounds against C. albicans infections by targeting at its hyphal development.

Molecular characterization and transcriptional analysis of VrWOX genes in mungbean Vigna radiate (L.) Wilczek / 生物工程学报

WUSCHEL-related homebox (WOX) gene family is a type of plant specific transcription factor, and belongs to the homeobox (HB) transcription factor superfamily. WOX genes play an important role in plant development, such as stem cell regulation and reproductive progress, and have been identified in many plant species. However, the information of mungbean VrWOX genes is limited. In this study, we identified 42 VrWOX genes in mungbean genome using Arabidopsis AtWOX genes as BLAST queries. VrWOX genes are unevenly distributed on 11 mungbean chromosomes, and chromosome 7 contains the most VrWOX genes. VrWOX genes are classified into three subgroups, the ancient group, the intermediate group and the modern/WUSCHEL group, which contains 19, 12 and 11 VrWOX members, respectively. Intraspecific synteny analysis revealed 12 VrWOX duplicated gene pairs in mungbean. Mungbean and Arabidopsis thaliana have 15 orthologous genes, and mungbean and Phaseolus vulgaris have 22 orthologous genes, respectively. The gene structure and conserved motif are different among VrWOX genes, indicating their functional diversity. The promoter regions of VrWOX genes contain different number and type of cis-acting elements, and VrWOX genes show distinct expression levels in eight mungbean tissues. Our study investigated the bioinformation and expression profiles of VrWOX genes, and provided essential information for further functional characterization of VrWOX genes.

Study on the prognostic influencing factors of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and the predictive value of inflammatory reaction indexes on its postoperative recurrence / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To explore the influence factors of poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and the predictive value of inflammatory reaction indexes including neutrophils and lymphocytes ratio (NLR), platelet and lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte and lymphocyte ratio (MLR) provision and differentiation degree, infiltration depth, lymph node metastasis number on the postoperative recurrence of ESCC. Methods: A total of 130 patients with ESCC who underwent radical resection from February 2017 to February 2019 in Nanyang Central Hospital were selected and divided into good prognosis group (66 cases) and poor prognosis group (64 cases) according to the prognostic effect. The clinical data and follow-up data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent influencing factors of poor prognosis. Spearman correlation analysis was used to determine the correlation between preoperative NLR, PLR and MLR with the degree of differentiation, depth of invasion and number of lymph node metastases. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the efficacy of NLR, PLR and MLR in predicting poor prognosis of ESCC. Results: Univariate analysis showed that the degree of differentiation, the degree of invasion and the number of lymph node metastasis were related to the prognoses of patients with ESCC (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the degree of differentiation, depth of invasion and number of lymph node metastases were independent influencing factors for poor prognosis of patients with ESCC, moderate differentiation (OR=2.603, 95% CI: 1.009-6.715) or low differentiation (OR=9.909, 95% CI: 3.097-31.706), infiltrating into fibrous membrane (OR=14.331, 95% CI: 1.333-154.104) or surrounding tissue (OR=23.368, 95% CI: 1.466-372.578), the number of lymph node metastases ≥ 3 (OR=9.225, 95% CI: 1.693-50.263) indicated poor prognosis. Spearman correlation analysis showed that NLR was negatively correlated with the degree of differentiation and the number of lymph node metastases (r=-0.281, P=0.001; r=-0.257, P=0.003), PLR was negatively correlated with the degree of differentiation, depth of invasion and number of lymph node metastasis (r=-0.250, P=0.004; r=0.197, P=0.025; r=-0.194, P=0.027), MLR was positively correlated with the degree of differentiation and the number of lymph node metastasis (r=0.248, P=0.004; r=0.196, P=0.025). ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curve of NLR, PLR and MLR in predicting poor prognosis of ESCC were 0.971, 0.925 and 0.834, respectively. The best cut-off value of NLR was 2.87. The sensitivity and specificity of NLR in predicting poor prognosis of ESCC were 90.6% and 87.9%, respectively. The optimal cut-off value of PLR was 141.75. The sensitivity and specificity for predicting poor prognosis of ESCC were 92.2% and 87.9%, respectively. The best cut-off value of MLR was 0.40. The sensitivity and specificity of MLR in predicting poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were 54.7% and 100.0%, respectively. Conclusions: The degree of differentiation, the degree of invasion and the number of lymph node metastases are closely related to the poor prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. NLR, PLR and MLR can provide important information for predicting the poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The effect of visual-vestibular sensory input consistency on standing stability and electroencephalogram brain network characteristics in the elderly / 生理学报

Aging is a crucial factor influencing postural stability control and contributing to frequent falls, yet its underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study aims to explore the effects of aging on postural stability control by comparing differences in postural stability and node strength of electroencephalogram (EEG) brain network between elderly and young people under the conditions of congruent and incongruent visual-vestibular sensory inputs. Eighteen elderly volunteers without neuromuscular disorders and eighteen young individuals participated in the present study. Virtual reality (VR) technology was employed to manipulate visual rotation stimuli (clockwise and counterclockwise), and a horizontal rotating platform was used for vestibular rotation stimuli (clockwise). Based on the directional disparity of sensory input in the horizontal plane, visual-vestibular input consistency was categorized as congruent and incongruent. Postural stability was assessed by the center of pressure (COP) trajectory, and EEG signals were collected and analyzed using directed network analysis to observe EEG brain network node connectivity strength. The results revealed that, under conditions of incongruent visual-vestibular sensory inputs, the elderly exhibited significantly inferior postural stability performance in terms of COP anterior-posterior (Y-axial) sway speed, total path length, anterior-posterior and medial-lateral sample entropy, compared to the young adults. Moreover, the node connectivity strength of visual cortex in the elderly was notably higher, while node connectivity strength of superior temporal cortex was significantly lower than that in the young adults. These findings suggest that the elderly have a heightened reliance on visual information in postural control and an impaired ability to cope with sensory conflicts arising from incongruent visual-vestibular sensory inputs, leading to compromised postural stability. The outcomes of this study hold significant implications for future assessments of balance function in the elder and fall prevention trainings.