Experimental study of improved sclerotherapy injection in rat model of vertebral arteriocervical spondylopathy / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To improve the rat model of cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type (CSA) induced by injecting sclerosing agent. To evaluate the efficacy of injecting sclerosing agent to induce CSA.@*METHODS@#Forty Health SPF SD rats(20 males and 20 females), were randomly divided into two groups:the model group (20) and the blank group (20). All the animals were followed up for 4 weeks for the observation of general situation, transcranial Doppler(TCD) detection of blood flow velocity, pulsatility index and resistive index of the vertebral artery, measurement of mental distress by open-field test.@*RESULTS@#One to two days after establish the animal model, rats in the model group appeared apathetic with decreased autonomic activities, trembling, squinting, increased eye excrement, etc., and no rats died during the experiment. The mean blood flow velocity of the model group was lower than that of the blank group (P<0.05), and the pulsatilit index and resistive index of the model group were higher than that of the blank group (P<0.05). The mental distress of the model group was significantly higher than that of the blank group.@*CONCLUSION@#The modified injection of sclerosing agent is a practical method to establish the rat model of CSA, with high success rate, high stability, low mortality and simple operation.

Clinical significance of 21-gene recurrence score assay for hormone receptor-positive, lymph node-negative breast cancer in early stage.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the relationship between clinical pathological characteristics and the recurrence score (RS) on a 21-gene expression assay in patients with hormone receptor-positive, node-negative breast cancer, as well as the effect of RS on adjuvant decision-making. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted among luminal breast cancer patients admitted to Xijing Hospital between October 10, 2016, and September 14, 2018. Real-time PCR was used for 21-genome detection. Based on the calculated RS, participants were classified into low-risk, moderate-risk, and high-risk groups. Single-factor analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to explore independent predictors of high RS. Moreover, the effect of RS on adjuvant decision-making was studied. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-two patients with luminal breast cancer, aged 48.3 ±â€¯9.66, were enrolled. Among them, 33.8% had low (13 ±â€¯3.34), 45.5% intermediate (23 ±â€¯3.65), and 20.7% high (37 ±â€¯3.44) RS. According to the single-factor analysis, age, tumor size, Ki-67, molecular subtype, CK5/6 expression, E-cadherin level, and histological grade were positively associated with high RS. Multiple logistic analyses showed that tumor size and histological grade were independent variables that might predict high RS in patients with hormone receptor-positive, node-negative breast cancer. For adjuvant decision-making, the proportion of adjuvant chemotherapy in the intermediate-/high-risk groups was higher than that in the low-risk group, P < 0.001. Compared with the data worldwide, the changes of treatment selection in the present study were similar to those in Japan (23.0% vs. 26%) and America (23.0% vs. 23.0%). Considering the pathology types, 14.3% of patients with invasive breast cancer with lower RS changed treatment recommendations, predominantly from chemo-endocrine to endocrine treatment alone, whereas the percentage in intermediate/high RS groups was 8.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor size and histological grade were independent variables, predicting high risk in patients with hormone receptor-positive, node-negative breast cancer; 21-gene RS assessment was potentially a critical tool in guiding adjuvant decision-making in China.

Establishment and application of loop-mediated isothermal amplification for Candida albicans / 临床检验杂志

Objective@#To establish a simple and rapid loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to detect Candida albicans (CA) and explore its clinical value.@*Methods@#The Primer Explorer 5.0 software was used to design 4 primers for amplification of CA by LAMP. The system and conditions of LAMP reaction were optimized to evaluate its specificity and the minimum limit in the detection. The vaginal swabs were collected from 123 vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) patients and 42 healthy individuals. Fungal culture, LAMP test, PCR test and 1.79 mol/L KOH microscopy were conducted in parallel. Fungal culture was used as the reference method for VVC diagnosis. The positive rates between two groups were compared by Pearson χ² test. The consistency of the results from LAMP, PCR, microscopy and culture were analyzed by Kappa test and P＜0.05 was considered as statistically significant difference. ROC curve analysis was used to evaluate LAMP and PCR test for diagnosis of VVC.@*Results@#The optimum reaction temperature of LAMP was 61 ℃ with high specificity. No cross reaction with other strains was found. The minimum detection limit was 10³ copies/ul. The positive rates of LAMP, PCR and microscopy between VVC and healthy group showed statistically significant difference（LAMP: χ²=68.576；PCR: χ²=64.918；microscopy: χ²=50.076，P＜0.01）. LAMP detection and PCR showed good consistency (κ=0.744, 0.720), but microscopy examination showed poor consistency (κ=0.533). LAMP showed diagnostic sensitivity of 87.62%, specificity of 88.33%, positive predictive value of 92.93% and negative predictive value of 80.30%. The area under the curves of LAMP and PCR were 0.873 and 0.888, respectively. No difference in efficacies between LAMP and PCR was found (Z=0.849, P=0.395 6), but the lowest detection time of LAMP was shorter than 1 hour.@*Conclusion@#A rapid, reliable, sensitive and specific LAMP technique for detecting CA was established. The comprehensive screening performance should be superior to the routine method in laboratories, so LAMP could be used for the supplementary diagnosis and monitoring therapeutic effects in CA infection.