Clinical Effect of Dermatologic Trephination Combined With Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Keloids.

BACKGROUND: Keloids are excessive formations of scar tissue that develop at the site of a skin injury. Due to their invasive nature, they have a negative impact on the skin's appearance and are prone to recurrence, making them a challenging condition to treat in terms of skin aesthetics. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this article is to compare the long-term effects of dermatologic trephination with non-surgical treatments in scar repair and evaluate their clinical value. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 48 patients who received keloids treatment in the Department of Dermatology and Thoracic Surgery of our hospital from January 2021 to October 2023, of which 24 patients received dermatologic trephination and 24 patients received non-surgical treatment. Outcome measures included scar appearance, scar healing time, pain and itching levels, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: In the comparison of scar healing time, the healing time of patients using dermatologic trephination was significantly shorter than that of patients in the non-surgical group. In the evaluation of the degree of itching, the degree of itching in patients undergoing dermatologic trephination was significantly lower than that of patients in the non-surgical group. In the evaluation of satisfaction, the satisfaction of patients using dermatologic trephination was significantly higher than that of patients in the non-surgical group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that trephination achieves more significant long-term results in keloid revision, including improved keloid appearance, itching and patient satisfaction.

Combined Transcriptome and Metabolome Analysis of Musa nana Laur. Peel Treated With UV-C Reveals the Involvement of Key Metabolic Pathways.

An increasing attention is being given to treat fruits with ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation to extend shelf-life, senescence, and protection from different diseases during storage. However, the detailed understanding of the pathways and key changes in gene expression and metabolite accumulation related to UV-C treatments are yet to be explored. This study is a first attempt to understand such changes in banana peel irradiated with UV-C. We treated Musa nana Laur. with 0.02 KJ/m2 UV-C irradiation for 0, 4, 8, 12, 15, and 18 days and studied the physiological and quality indicators. We found that UV-C treatment reduces weight loss and decay rate, while increased the accumulation of total phenols and flavonoids. Similarly, our results demonstrated that UV-C treatment increases the activity of defense and antioxidant system related enzymes. We observed that UV-C treatment for 8 days is beneficial for M. nana peels. The peels of M. nana treated with UV-C for 8 days were then subjected to combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis. In total, there were 425 and 38 differentially expressed genes and accumulated metabolites, respectively. We found that UV-C treatment increased the expression of genes in secondary metabolite biosynthesis related pathways. Concomitant changes in the metabolite accumulation were observed. Key pathways that were responsive to UV-C irradiation include flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid bios6ynthesis, plant-pathogen interaction, MAPK signaling (plant), and plant hormone signal transduction pathway. We concluded that UV-C treatment imparts beneficial effects on banana peels by triggering defense responses against disease, inducing expression of flavonoid and alkaloid biosynthesis genes, and activating phytohormone and MAPK signaling pathways.

Camellia nitidissima Chi flower extract alleviates obesity and related complications and modulates gut microbiota composition in rats with high-fat-diet-induced obesity.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential anti-obesity effects of Camellia nitidissima Chi flower extract (Cnfe) by examining its effects in terms of the regulation of lipid levels and modulation of gut microbiota in rats with high-fat-diet-induced obesity. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that Cnfe significantly decreased weight gain by reducing appetite and decreasing high-fat food intake. Further, Cnfe restored normal lipid metabolism and improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in rats fed a high-fat diet. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot results showed that Cnfe significantly decreased the expression of genes and proteins involved in adipogenesis and lipogenesis, and upregulated the expression of lipolysis genes. 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing of feces showed that Cnfe dramatically reversed dysbacteriosis in rats with high-fat-diet-induced obesity by decreasing the abundance of Firmicutes and increasing that of Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia at the phylum level. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that Cnfe is a potential anti-obesity prebiotic nutrient that can prevent weight gain, ameliorate obesity-related dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia, inhibit liver fat accumulation, and modulate gut microbiota. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Cytokines/Chemokines: Novel Biomarkers Associated with Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions.

Although the incidence of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) is very low, if it is not diagnosed and treated in time, it can not only cause skin and mucous membrane involvement, but can also cause multiple organ failure and even death. The diagnostic criteria and treatment guidelines for severe drug eruptions have not been unified. Many medical centers have used human leukocyte antigen alleles to diagnose SCARs. Some prospective studies have shown that susceptibility gene testing can prevent SCARs as early as possible, but the widespread implementation of its technology is limited by being ethnically specific. With the unique advantages of cytokine detection technology, cytokines are increasingly important for the diagnosis and treatment of SCARs. Related cytokines/chemokines involved in the pathogenesis, adjuvant diagnosis, and treatment of SCARs are discussed.

[Prospective study on comparing two methods: for dynamic monitoring of minimal residual disease in acute promyelocytic leukemia].

This study was purposed to comparatively analyse the value of PCR and FCM for dynamic monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) of acute promyelocytic leukemia. The patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia hospitalized in our hospital from January 2011 to December 2012 were observed and all achieved complete remission after remission induction therapy. Before the chemotherapy, the bone marrow cell morphology examination, polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) and multi-parameter flow cytometry (FCM) were performed for each patient. Then the detection results were statistically analyzed. The 477 specimens were achieved from 159 detections for 48 patients. The results showed that 3 specimens were found to be relapsed by bone marrow cell examination, and other specimens were complete remission;PCR detection confirmed 7 positive, and the FCM confirmed 19 positive. There wasn't significant difference between PCR and FCM by kappa test (P > 0.05). It is concluded that FCM is as sensitive as PCR in evaluating the treatment effect of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

[Metabolic syndrome is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease events in patients with ischemic stroke].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and risk of cardiovascular disease events (CVD) in patients with ischemic stroke. METHOD: A total of 1087 patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled from 5 community-based medical centres and underwent baseline evaluation on risk factors of stroke during the period of Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2006. After baseline survey, all patients were followed up until Dec 31, 2008 and new CVD events were recorded. MS was defined using CDS criteria. Proportional hazard models were used to assess the HRs and 95% CI of CVD events associated with MS and other components. RESULTS: The prevalence of MS was 40.4% at baseline. During an average follow-up of 3.5 years, 178 patients developed new CVD events. After adjusted for age, gender, smoking, drinking, marriage status, education level, hospitalization, recurrence of stroke, stroke duration, depression, cognition impairment and ADL, MS remains the independent predictor for the risk of CVD events. Compared with patients with non-MS, the risk of CVD events increased by 44% (HR: 1.44, 95%CI: 1.06 - 1.95). The risk of CVD also increased with the number of MS components. Compared with patients with 1 or less than 1 components of MS, the risk of CVD events increased by 30% (HR: 1.30, 95% CI: 0.83 - 2.04) in those with 2 components and by 69% (HR: 1.69, 95%CI: 1.11 - 2.56) in those with 3 or more components of MS. Hypertension and hyperglycemia and impaired fasting glucose also served as independent risk factors for CVD event (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MS was independently associated with increased risk of CVD events in patients with ischemic stroke. There was a dose-response relationship between the numbers of MS components and the risk of CVD event.