Diagnosis and treatment of bilateral primary branchiogenic carcinoma: A case of malignant transformation of branchial cleft cyst.

Branchial cleft cysts are common congenital lateral neck masses, with 95 % originating from the second branchial cleft. Although most cysts are benign, there are rare instances of malignancy. Here, we present a rare case of primary branchiogenic carcinoma originating from both sides of the neck in a 68-year-old male. Through a detailed analysis of this rare bilateral primary branchiogenic carcinoma, we present the complexity of diagnosing such rare phenomena and the limitations of existing diagnostic methods, emphasizing the need to improve diagnostic methods and the importance of further research for understanding and dealing with similar cases.

Non-Linear Association Between Climatic Parameters and Bell's Palsy Prevalence of Hospital Outpatients: An Ecological Proof in Kunshan, Suzhou, China.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between climatic parameters and the daily cases of Bell's palsy (BP) among hospital outpatients, providing ecological evidence for understanding BP etiology and prevention. Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 2187 BP patients who attended Kunshan First People's Hospital Outpatient Clinic from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022. Meteorological data, including temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed, sunshine duration, and atmospheric pressure, were collected and combined with daily BP case records. Additionally, air quality index was used as a covariate. Results: The number of new BP cases among outpatients showed a negative correlation with average daily temperature. A nonlinear relationship between daily average temperature and BP cases was observed through the generalized additive model (GAM). A significant negative correlation was identified between daily average temperature and BP cases, with inflection points at temperatures above 4.2°C, suggesting a potential decrease in BP risk with temperature rise beyond this threshold. Conclusion: This study provides ecological evidence of a link between climatic factors and BP occurrence. Temperature demonstrated a significant nonlinear negative correlation with daily BP incidence, highlighting temperature and cold exposure as key targets for BP prevention in Kunshan.

Rhodamine and related substances in food: Recent updates on pretreatment and analysis methods.

Rhodamine, a colorant prohibited in various consumer products due to its demonstrated carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic properties, necessitates the development of a straightforward, efficient, sensitive, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective analytical method. This review provides an overview of recent advancements in the pretreatment and determination techniques for rhodamine across diverse sample matrices since 2017. Sample preparation methods encompass both commonly used pretreatment techniques such as filtration, centrifugation, solvent extraction, and cloud point extraction, as well as innovative approaches including solid phase extraction, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction, magnetic solid phase extraction, and matrix solid phase dispersion. The analytical techniques encompass high performance liquid chromatography, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and sensor-based methods. Furthermore, a comprehensive examination is conducted to offer insights for future research on rhodamine regarding the advantages, disadvantages, and advancements in various pretreatment and determination methodologies.

Correlation between serum trimethylamine-N-oxide and body fat distribution in middle-aged and older adults: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is linked with obesity, while limited evidence on its relationship with body fat distribution. Herein, we investigated the associations between serum TMAO and longitudinal change of fat distribution in this prospective cohort study. METHODS: Data of 1964 participants (40-75y old) from Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS) during 2008-2014 was analyzed. Serum TMAO concentration was quantified by HPLC-MS/MS at baseline. The body composition was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at each 3-y follow-up. Fat distribution parameters were fat-to-lean mass ratio (FLR) and trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLR). Fat distribution changes were derived from the coefficient of linear regression between their parameters and follow-up duration. RESULTS: After an average of 6.2-y follow-up, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and linear regression displayed women with higher serum TMAO level had greater increments in trunk FLR (mean ± SD: 1.47 ± 4.39, P-trend = 0.006) and TLR (mean ± SD: 0.06 ± 0.24, P-trend = 0.011). Meanwhile, for women in the highest TMAO tertile, linear mixed-effects model (LMEM) analysis demonstrated the annual estimated increments (95% CI) were 0.03 (95% CI: 0.003 - 0.06, P = 0.032) in trunk FLR and 1.28 (95% CI: -0.17 - 2.73, P = 0.083) in TLR, respectively. In men, there were no similar significant observations. Sensitivity analysis yielded consistent results. CONCLUSION: Serum TMAO displayed a more profound correlation with increment of FLR and TLR in middle-aged and older community-dwelling women in current study. More and further studies are still warranted in the future. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03179657.

Standardized approach for accurate and reliable model development of ion-exchange chromatography based on parameter-by-parameter method and consideration of extra-column effects.

Developing an accurate and reliable model for chromatographic separation that meets regulatory requirements and ensures consistency in model development remains challenging. In order to address this challenge, a standardized approach was proposed in this study with ion-exchange chromatography (IEC). The approach includes the following steps: liquid flow identification, system and column-specific parameters determination and validation, multi-component system identification, protein amount validation, steric mass action parameters determination and evaluation, and validation of the calibrated model's generalization ability. The parameter-by-parameter (PbP) calibration method and the consideration of extra-column effects were integrated to enhance the accuracy of the developed models. The experiments designed for implementing the PbP method (five gradient experiments for model calibration and one stepwise experiment for model validation) not only streamline the experimental workload but also ensure the extrapolation abilities of the model. The effectiveness of the standardized approach is successfully validated through an application about the IEC separation of industrial antibody variants, and satisfactory results were observed with R2 ≈ 0.9 for the majority of calibration and validation experiments. The standardized approach proposed in this work contributes significantly to improve the accuracy and reliability of the developed IEC models. Models developed using this standardized approach are ready to be applied to a broader range of industrial separation systems, and are likely find further applications in model-assisted decision-making of process development.

Research progress in SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection based on microfluidic platforms / 医疗卫生装备

The detection principle of microfluidic microfluidic technology was introduced.The current research status of microfluidic platform-based SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection technologies were reviewed such as reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR),digital PCR,isothermal amplification and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein.The deficiencies of microfluidic platform-based SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection were analyzed.It's pointed out microfluidic platform-based SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection had to be optimized and validated clinically in specialty,sensitivity,detection limit,reproducibility,informatization,quality control and reagent cost.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(1):101-107]

Prognostic Model of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Middle-aged and Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Complicated with Stable Angina Pectoris / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveThis study aims to explore risk factors for the development of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events （MACCEs） in middle-aged and elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with stable angina pectoris （T2DM-SAP） based on real-world clinical data in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， so as to develop a COX proportional risk prediction model and visualize the predicted results using a nomogram. MethodBased on the clinical scientific research information sharing system， the medical records of 586 T2DM-SAP patients （45-94 years old） were collected from January 2012 to December 2019， including age， gender， course of disease， major medical history， laboratory examination， tongue image， pulse image， TCM syndrome， and major treatment drugs. MACCE outcome indicators of patients were obtained by telephone follow-up and re-hospitalization records. The data was divided into a training set and a validation set according to 7∶3. In the training set， COX univariate analysis was used to determine the risk factors for MACCE in T2DM-SAP patients， and then variables were screened by forward-backward stepwise regression method， so as to establish a MACCE risk prediction model and construct a nomogram. The predictive efficacy of the model was reflected by the C-index， receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve， calibration map， and clinical decision curve. ResultThe history of cerebrovascular disease ［Hazard ratio （HR）=1.983， 95% confidence interval （CI，1.314-2.993）］， low-density lipoprotein （LDL-C/mmol·L-1）≥4.1［HR=2.683， 95%CI（1.461-4.925）］， dull red tongue ［HR=1.955， 95%CI（1.273-3.002）］， dull purple tongue ［HR=4.214， 95%CI（2.017-8.803）］， white thick coating ［HR=3.030， 95%CI（1.634-9.293）］， thin and weak pulse ［HR=2.233， 95%CI（1.283-3.888）］， and syndrome of wind-phlegm blocking collaterals ［HR=2.007， 95%CI（1.179-3.418）］ were found to be risk factors in middle-aged and elderly T2DM-SAP patients. Insulin ［HR=0.604， 95%CI（0.399-0.914）］， glycosidase inhibitor ［HR=0.627， 95%CI（0.409-0.962）］， and TCM treatment ［HR=0.328， 95%CI（0.214-0.503）］ were protective factors in middle-aged and elderly T2DM-SAP patients. The prediction model was constructed based on the above risk factors. The C-index of the model was 0.818 （95% CI 0.777 -0.859） in the training set and 0.814 （95% CI 0.773-0.855） in the validation set， and the change of C-index over time was plotted. The AUC of patients for 5， 10， 15 years in the training set was 0.71， 0.67， and 0.61. The AUC of patients for 5， 10， and 15 years in the validation set was 0.60， 0.68， and 0.63， respectively. The calibration map and clinical decision curves of 5， 10， 15 years were drawn in the training set and the validation set， respectively. The model was well calibrated and clinically effective. ConclusionThe history of cerebrovascular disease， LDL， dull red tongue， dull purple tongue， white thick coating， thin and weak pulse， and syndrome of wind-phlegm blocking collaterals are risk factors for MACCE in middle-aged and elderly T2DM-SAP patients， and insulin， glycosidase inhibitors， TCM treatment are protective factors for MACCE in middle-aged and elderly T2DM-SAP patients. A clinical prediction model is established accordingly. This model has good discrimination， calibration degree， and clinical effectiveness and provides a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of MACCE in middle-aged and elderly T2DM-SAP patients.

Cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical smoking cessation intervention in China primary cancer prevention / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of typical pharmaceutical smoking cessation intervention strategies in China in the context of primary cancer prevention. Methods: Markov cohort simulation models were established to simulate the burden of 12 smoking caused cancer, including lung cancer, oral cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia. Taking incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) as the main indicator, the model sets one year as the cycling period for 50 periods and simulates the cohort of 10 000 thirty-five-year-old current smokers with various smoking cessation strategies. To ensure the robustness of conclusion, univariate sensitivity analysis, probability sensitivity analysis, and age-group sensitivity analysis were conducted. Results: The results showed that varenicline intervention was the most cost-effective intervention. Compared to the next most effective option, incremental cost of each additional quality-adjusted life year is 11 140.28 yuan, which is below the threshold of willingness to pay (1 year GDP per capita). The value of ICER increased as the increasing age group of adopting intervention, but neither exceeded the threshold of willingness to pay. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that the value of discount rate, the hazard ratio and cost of intervention strategy had a greater impact on the result of ICER. Conclusion: In China, the use of varenicline to quit smoking is highly cost effective in the context of cancer primary prevention, especially for younger smokers.

Cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical smoking cessation intervention in China primary cancer prevention / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of typical pharmaceutical smoking cessation intervention strategies in China in the context of primary cancer prevention. Methods: Markov cohort simulation models were established to simulate the burden of 12 smoking caused cancer, including lung cancer, oral cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia. Taking incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) as the main indicator, the model sets one year as the cycling period for 50 periods and simulates the cohort of 10 000 thirty-five-year-old current smokers with various smoking cessation strategies. To ensure the robustness of conclusion, univariate sensitivity analysis, probability sensitivity analysis, and age-group sensitivity analysis were conducted. Results: The results showed that varenicline intervention was the most cost-effective intervention. Compared to the next most effective option, incremental cost of each additional quality-adjusted life year is 11 140.28 yuan, which is below the threshold of willingness to pay (1 year GDP per capita). The value of ICER increased as the increasing age group of adopting intervention, but neither exceeded the threshold of willingness to pay. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that the value of discount rate, the hazard ratio and cost of intervention strategy had a greater impact on the result of ICER. Conclusion: In China, the use of varenicline to quit smoking is highly cost effective in the context of cancer primary prevention, especially for younger smokers.

Mitigating the impact of bisphenol A exposure on mortality: Is diet the key? A cohort study based on NHANES.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widespread environmental pollutant linked to detrimental effects on human health and reduced life expectancy following chronic exposure. This prospective cohort study aimed to examine the association between BPA exposure and mortality in American adults and to explore the potential mitigating effects of dietary quality on BPA-related mortality. This study utilized data from 8761 American adults in the 2003-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Urinary BPA levels were employed to assess BPA exposure, and dietary quality was evaluated using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). All-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality statuses were determined until December 31, 2019, resulting in a cumulative follow-up of 80,564 person-years. The results showed that the highest tertile of urinary BPA levels corresponded to a 36% increase in all-cause mortality and a 62% increase in CVD mortality compared to the lowest tertile. In contrast, the highest tertile of HEI-2015 scores was associated with a 29% reduction in all-cause mortality relative to the lowest tertile. Although no significant interaction was found between HEI-2015 scores and urinary BPA levels concerning mortality, the association between HEI-2015 scores and both all-cause and CVD mortality was statistically significant at low urinary BPA levels. Continuous monitoring of BPA exposure is crucial for evaluating its long-term adverse health effects. Improving dietary quality can lower all-cause mortality and decrease the risk of all-cause and CVD mortality at low BPA exposure levels. However, due to the limited protective effect of dietary quality against BPA exposure, minimizing BPA exposure remains a vital goal.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the environment: Recent updates on the occurrence, fate, hazards and removal technologies.

Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are extensively utilized pharmaceuticals worldwide. However, owing to the improper discharge and disposal practices, they have emerged as significant contaminants that are widely distributed in water, soils, and sewage sediments. This ubiquity poses a substantial threat to the ecosystem and human health. Consequently, it is imperative to develop rapid, cost-effective, efficient and reliable approaches for containing these substance in order to mitigate the deleterious impact of NSAIDs. This research provides a comprehensive review of the occurrence, fate, and hazards associated with NSAIDs in the general environment. Additionally, various removal technologies, including advanced oxidation processes, biodegradation, and adsorption, were systematically summarized. The study also presents a comparative analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of different removal technologies while interpreting challenges related to NSAIDs' removal and proposing strategies for future development.

Associations of serum betaine with blood pressure and hypertension incidence in middle-aged and older adults: a prospective cohort study.

The impact of betaine on the development of hypertension remains unclear, and prospective data are sparse. We aimed to investigate the association of serum betaine with repeated measurements of blood pressure (BP) and hypertension incidence. This study was based on the Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS), a community-based prospective cohort study in China. Baseline serum betaine was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. BP and hypertension status were assessed at the baseline and 3-year intervals. Linear mixed-effects models (LMEMs) were used to analyze the longitudinal association of serum betaine with BP (n = 1996). Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association of baseline serum betaine with hypertension incidence (n = 1339). LMEMs showed that compared with the lowest quartile group, the higher quartile groups had lower systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and pulse pressure (all P-trend < 0.05). Each standard deviation (16.3 µmol L-1) increase in serum betaine was associated with -0.92 (-1.52, -0.32) mmHg of SBP, -0.49 (-0.84, -0.13) mmHg of DBP and -0.43 (-0.81, -0.05) mmHg of pulse pressure. During a median follow-up of 9.2 years, 371 incident cases of hypertension were identified. Serum betaine was associated with lower risk of hypertension only when comparing the third quartile level with the lowest quartile (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56-0.99). A nonlinear association between serum betaine and the risk of hypertension was found (P-nonlinear = 0.040). A higher serum betaine level was associated with lower risk of hypertension below 54.5 µmol L-1. Our findings suggested that higher serum betaine was associated with favorable blood pressure in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. Higher concentrations of serum betaine were related to lower hypertension risk in people with relatively low serum betaine concentrations.

Effects of low-dose B vitamins plus betaine supplementation on lowering homocysteine concentrations among Chinese adults with hyperhomocysteinemia: a randomized, double-blind, controlled preliminary clinical trial.

PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that daily supplementation with low-dose B vitamins plus betaine could significantly reduce plasma homocysteine concentrations in Chinese adults with hyperhomocysteinemia and free from background mandatory folic acid fortification. METHODS: One hundred apparently healthy adults aged 18-65 years with hyperhomocysteinemia were recruited in South China from July 2019 to June 2021. They were randomly assigned to either the supplement group (daily supplementation: 400 µg folic acid, 8 mg vitamin B6, 6.4 µg vitamin B12 and 1 g betaine) or the placebo group for 12 weeks. Fasting venous blood was collected at baseline, week 4 and week 12 to determine the concentrations of homocysteine, folate, vitamin B12 and betaine. Generalized estimation equations were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Statistically significant increments in blood concentrations of folate, vitamin B12 and betaine after the intervention in the supplement group indicated good participant compliance. At baseline, there were no significant differences in plasma homocysteine concentration between the two groups (P = 0.265). After 12-week supplementation, compared with the placebo group, there was a significant reduction in plasma homocysteine concentrations in the supplement group (mean group difference - 3.87; covariate-adjusted P = 0.012; reduction rate 10.1%; covariate-adjusted P < 0.001). In the supplement group, the decreased concentration of plasma homocysteine was associated with increments of blood concentrations of both folate (ß = -1.680, P = 0.004) and betaine (ß = -1.421, P = 0.020) after 12 weeks of supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Daily supplementation with low-dose B vitamins plus betaine for 12 weeks effectively decreased plasma homocysteine concentrations in Chinese adults with hyperhomocysteinemia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03720249 on October 25, 2018. Website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03720249 .

Prenatal diagnosis of abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure and malformations of cortical development / 中华围产医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the significance of abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure detected by fetal neurosonogram (NSG) in prenatal diagnosis of malformations of cortical development (MCD).Methods:This retrospective study involved fetuses with abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure on prenatal NSG in Peking University First Hospital between January 2016 and December 2021. Clinical data including the basic information as well as the results of NSG, genetic examinations and MRI were collected. The diagnosis of MCD could be made when both brain morphological abnormalities and pathogenic/likely pathogenic genetic abnormalities were presented. The association between the abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure and MCD was analyzed by descriptive analysis.Results:Thirteen participants who had complete genetic information were included in this study [defined as those who were found with pathogenic/likely pathogenic copy number variation (CNV) or those who further underwent whole-exome sequencing (WES) as no pathogenic/likely pathogenic CNV were detected]. Twelve fetuses (12/13) were eventually diagnosed with MCD. Pathogenic CNV were found in seven fetuses and pathogenic point mutations in five, involving six pathogenic genes and four genetic syndromes. Symmetric morphologic abnormality of Sylvian fissure was detected in 10 cases by prenatal NSG with shallow and broad shape in six and abnormal angle of Sylvian fissure in four. The other two fetuses showed asymmetric abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure that was shallow and broad shape on one side and abnormal angle on the other. The imaging features of MCD present by prenatal NSG and were consistent with those of MRI.Conclusions:Abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure detected by prenatal NSG is important in MCD diagnosis. Genetic examination are recommended to the fetuses with abnormal morphology of Sylvian fissure. For those requiring for genetic analysis, chromosomal microarray analysis together with WES might be an optimal choice.

Berberine targeting TRIM25 induced cervical cancer HeLa cell apoptosis / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study the mechanism and target of apoptosis induced by berberine ( BBR) in cervical cancer HeLa cells. Methods Drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and mass spectrometry (MS) were used to identify the potential binding proteins of berberine. The binding affinity between berberine and candidate target protein was detected by microscale thermophoresis technique (MST) , and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) was used to detect the binding of berberine to candidate target proteins in living cells. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique was used to establish candidate target protein TRIM25-deficient tumor cell lines. CCK-8 assay and Annexin V/propidium iodide combined with flow cytometry were used to detect the inhibitory and apoptotic effects of berberine on wild-type and TRIM25-KO cells. Western blot was used to detect the effect of berberine on TRIM25 and its substrate protein levels.Results DARTS found that after berberine treatment, the sensitivity of TRIM25 to pronase proteolysis showed the most significant change. MST and CETSA assays showed that berberine directly bound to TRIM25 at molecular and cellular levels, and its dissociation constant was 4.02 μmol • L

Effect of Bushen Huoxuetang on Expression of Bax/Bcl-2 and Cleaved Caspase-3 in Nude Mice with Bone Metastasis of Breast Cancer / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo study the effect of Bushen Huoxuetang on the apoptosis and the expression of B-cell lymphoma （Bcl-2）-associated X protein （Bax）/ Bcl-2 and cleaved cysteine-containing aspartate proteolytic enzyme-3 （cleaved Caspase-3） in the nude mouse model of bone metastasis of breast cancer， and explore the mechanism of Bushen Huoxuetang in inhibiting bone destruction. MethodThirty BALB/c female nude mice were randomly assigned into blank group （n=6） and model group （n=24）. The suspension of 4T1 breast cancer cells was injected into the tibia of mouse right lower limb to establish model of bone metastasis of breast cancer. The successfully modeled nude mice were randomly assigned into model group， Bushen Huoxuetang group， zoledronic acid group， and combined drug group， with 6 mice in each group. Bushen Huoxuetang was administrated at a dose of 36.67 g·kg-1， once a day， and zoledronic acid was administrated by subcutaneous injection at a dose of 100 μg·kg-1， twice a week. The combined drug group was administrated with the same doses of Bushen Huoxuetang group by gavage and zoledronic acid by subcutaneous injection. The mice in the blank group and the model group were administrated with the same volume of distilled water by gavage for 14 days. On the next day at the end of drug administration， the mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The general situation and weight changes of the mice were examined. The right lower limb was collected， and X-ray scanning and hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining methods were used for observation of pathological changes in the bone. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling （TUNEL） was employed to detect the apoptosis of bone tissue in nude mice， and Western blot to determine the expression of Bax/Bcl-2 and cleaved Caspase-3 in the bone tissue. ResultCompared with the blank group， the modeling reduced the body weight （P<0.01） and increased the right lower limb weight of the nude mice （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Bushen Huoxuetang， zoledronic acid， and their combination increased the body weight （P<0.01） and decreased the right lower limb weight （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the other groups showed obvious tumor cell atypia， deep nuclear staining， and clear bone metastasis， and the model group showed obvious osteolytic damage in right lower limb and loss of proximal tibia and knee joint. Compared with the model group， Bushen Huoxuetang， zoledronic acid， and their combination reduced the osteolytic lesions in the right lower limb and recovered part of the bone structure， demonstrating an inhibitory effect on bone destruction. The TUNEL assay showed that the model group had lower apoptosis rate of bone metastatic tumor cells than the blank group， Bushen Huoxuetang group， zoledronic acid group， and combined drug group （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the modeling down-regulated the expression of Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 （P<0.01） and up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Bushen Huoxuetang， zoledronic acid， and their combination up-regulated the expression of Bax （P<0.01） and cleaved Caspase-3 （P<0.05， P<0.01） and down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionBushen Huoxuetang may inhibit bone destruction in the nude mouse model of bone metastasis of breast cancer by up-regulating the expression of Bax， down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2， activating cleaved Caspase-3， and further inducing apoptosis.

Investigation of Antigen and Gene Frequency of Kell(K) and Rh(D) Blood Groups in Xinjiang / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the phenotypes and gene frequencies of Kell blood group system K antigen and Rh blood group system D antigen in Xinjiang, and summarize and understand the distribution of Kell(K) blood type and Rh(D) blood type in this area.@*METHODS@#A total of 12 840 patients who met the inclusion criteria during physical examination and treatment in our hospital and 18 medical institutions in our district from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 were collected for identification of Kell blood group system K antigen and Rh blood group System D antigen, and the distribution of K and D blood groups in different regions, genders and nationalities were investigated and statistically analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The proportion of K positive in the samples was 1.39%, the highest was 1.91% in southern Xinjiang, and the lowest was 1.03% in northern Xinjiang(P<0.01). The proportion of Rh(D) negative samples was 2.75% and the gene frequency was 16.64%. The proportion of Rh(D) negative samples was 4.03% and the gene frequency was 20.10% in southern Xinjiang, followed by eastern Xinjiang and the lowest in northern Xinjiang (P<0.01). The frequency of K antigen in Uygur nationality was the highest, reaching 2.16%, Kirgiz 1.54%, and the distribution trend of D/d antigen was similar to that of K antigen. Among women, the K positive frequency of Kazak nationality was slightly higher than that of Mongolian nationality. The highest proportion of K positive in Uygur women was 2.38%, which was higher than that in Uygur men (1.86%). The frequency of d phenotype in Kazak women was 3.15%, which was higher than that in Kirgiz （2.89%） (P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#The distributions of Kell(K) and Rh(D) blood groups in northern and southern Xinjiang and eastern Xinjiang had its own unique characteristics and differences. There are significant differences in blood group distribution among different ethnic groups and gender groups. In the future, k antigen detection can be included to further improve the investigation on the distribution of Kell blood group system in this region.

Intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates: an analysis based on high-throughput sequencing / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the distribution characteristics and correlation of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota in early neonates.@*METHODS@#Full-term healthy neonates who were born in Shanghai Pudong New Area Maternal and Child Health Hospital from September 2021 to January 2022 and were given mixed feeding were enrolled. The 16S rRNA sequencing technique was used to analyze the stool and pharyngeal swab samples collected on the day of birth and days 5-7 after birth, and the composition and function of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota were analyzed and compared.@*RESULTS@#The diversity analysis showed that the diversity of pharyngeal microbiota was higher than that of intestinal microbiota in early neonates, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). On the day of birth, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). On days 5-7 after birth, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in the intestine was significantly higher than that in the pharynx (P<0.05), and the relative abundance of Firmicutes in the intestine was significantly lower than that in the pharynx (P<0.05). At the genus level, there was no significant difference in the composition of dominant bacteria between the intestine and the pharynx on the day of birth (P>0.05), while on days 5-7 after birth, there were significant differences in the symbiotic bacteria of Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Rothia, Bifidobacterium, and Escherichia-Shigella between the intestine and the pharynx (P<0.05). The analysis based on the database of Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins showed that pharyngeal microbiota was more concentrated on chromatin structure and dynamics and cytoskeleton, while intestinal microbiota was more abundant in RNA processing and modification, energy production and conversion, amino acid transport and metabolism, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, coenzyme transport and metabolism, and others (P<0.05). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that compared with pharyngeal microbiota, intestinal microbiota was more predictive of cell motility, cellular processes and signal transduction, endocrine system, excretory system, immune system, metabolic diseases, nervous system, and transcription parameters (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The composition and diversity of intestinal and pharyngeal microbiota of neonates are not significantly different at birth. The microbiota of these two ecological niches begin to differentiate and gradually exhibit distinct functions over time.

Establishment of a Patient-Derived T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Xenograft Model in Novel Immunodeficient NCG Mice / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#The leukemia cells from patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) were inoculated into NCG mice to establish a stable human T-ALL leukemia animal model.@*METHODS@#Leukemia cells from bone marrow of newly diagnosed T-ALL patients were isolated, and the leukemia cells were inoculated into NCG mice via tail vein. The proportion of hCD45 positive cells in peripheral blood of the mice was detected regularly by flow cytometry, and the infiltration of leukemia cells in bone marrow, liver, spleen and other organs of the mice was detected by pathology and immunohistochemistry. After the first generation mice model was successfully established, the spleen cells from the first generation mice were inoculated into the second generation mice, and after the second generation mice model was successfully established, the spleen cells from the second generation mice were further inoculated into the third generation mice, and the growth of leukemia cells in peripheral blood of the mice in each group was monitored by regular flow cytometry to evaluate the stability of this T-ALL leukemia animal model.@*RESULTS@#On the 10th day after inoculation, hCD45+ leukemia cells could be successfully detected in the peripheral blood of the first generation mice, and the proportion of these cells was gradually increased. On average, the mice appeared listless 6 or 7 weeks after inoculation, and a large number of T lymphocyte leukemia cells were found in the peripheral blood and bone marrow smear of the mice. The spleen of the mice was obviously enlarged, and immunohistochemical examination showed that hCD3+ leukemia cells infiltrated into bone marrow, liver and spleen extensively. The second and third generation mice could stably develop leukemia, and the average survival time was 4-5 weeks.@*CONCLUSION@#Inoculating leukemia cells from bone marrow of patients with T-ALL into NCG mice via tail vein can successfully construct a patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDTX) model.

Pathological study on the relationship between nucleic acid oxidative stress and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in patients aged over 85 years / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To investigate the level of nucleic acid oxidation in myocardial tissue of patients aged over 85 with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and the correlation with myocardial amyloid deposition. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Data of patients≥85 years old who underwent systematic pathological autopsy in Beijing Hospital from 2003 to 2017 were retrospectively collected. Twenty-six patients were included in the HFpEF group and 13 age-and sex-matched patients who had not been diagnosed with heart failure and died of non-cardiovascular diseases served as the control group. The left ventricular myocardium slices of both groups were semi-quantitatively analyzed using immunohistochemical staining of 8-oxidized guanine riboside (8-oxo-G) and 8-oxidized guanine deoxyriboside (8-oxo-dG) to evaluate the oxidation of RNA and DNA in cardiomyocytes. Using the median of the mean absorbance value of 8-oxo-G immunohistochemical staining as the cut-off value, patients were divided into high-absorbance group and low-absorbance group. Congo red staining was used to compare myocardial amyloid deposition between the two groups. Results: The mean age of patients in HFpEF group was (91.8±3.7) years, 24 (92.3%) were males. The mean age of patients in control group was (91.7±3.7) years old, 11 (84.6%) were males. The median mean optical absorbance value of 8-oxo-G immunohistochemical staining of myocardium was significantly higher in HFpEF patients than in control group (0.313 8 (0.302 2, 0.340 6) vs. 0.289 2 (0.276 7, 0.299 4), Z=-3.245, P=0.001). The median mean absorbance value of 8-oxo-dG immunohistochemical staining of myocardial tissue was similar between the two groups (0.300 0 (0.290 0, 0.322 5) vs. 0.300 0 (0.290 0, 0.320 0), Z=-0.454, P=0.661). Proportion of patients with moderate and severe cardiac amyloid deposition was significantly higher in the high-absorbance group than in the low-absorbance group ((85.0%, 17/20) vs. (31.6%, 6/19), P=0.001). Conclusion: The RNA oxidation degree of myocardium in HFpEF patients is higher than that in elderly people without heart failure. Degree of myocardial amyloid deposits is higher in patients with high levels of RNA oxidation.