Fe-doped Cu-based bimetallic metal-organic frameworks as nanoscale microwave sensitizers for enhancing microwave thermal and dynamic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Microwave ablation (MWA) is recognized as a novel treatment modality that can kill tumor cells by heating the ions and polar molecules in these cells through high-speed rotation and friction. However, the size and location of the tumor affect the effective ablation range of microwave hyperthermia, resulting in residual tumor tissue and a high recurrence rate. Due to their tunable porous structure and high specific surface area, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can serve as microwave sensitizers, promoting microwave energy conversion owing to ion collisions in the porous structure of the MOFs. Moreover, iron-based compounds are known to possess peroxidase-like catalytic activity. Therefore, Fe-doped Cu bimetallic MOFs (FCMs) were prepared through a hydrothermal process. These FCM nanoparticles not only increased the efficiency of microwave-thermal energy conversion as microwave sensitizers but also promoted the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by consuming glutathione (GSH) and promoted the Fenton reaction to enhance microwave dynamic therapy (MDT). The in vitro and in vivo results showed that the combination of MWA and MDT treatment effectively destroyed tumor tissues via microwave irradiation without inducing significant side effects on normal tissues. This study provides a new approach for the combined application of MOFs and microwave ablation, demonstrating excellent potential for future applications.

Comparison of gastrointestinal ultrasound with capsule endoscopy in patients with small bowel Crohn's disease.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the association between gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) and capsule endoscopy (CE) in assessing disease activity in patients with small bowel Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS: Medical records of 74 patients with small bowel CD who were treated at our hospital between January 2020 and March 2022 were retrospectively reviewed, including 50 men and 24 women. All patients underwent both GIUS and CE within one week after their admissions. The Simple Ultrasound Scoring of Crohn's Disease (SUS-CD) and Lewis score were used to assess disease activity during GIUS and CE, respectively. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of SUS-CD was 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.99; P < 0.001). And the diagnostic accuracy of GIUS was 79.7%, with a sensitivity of 93.6%, a specificity of 81.8%, a positive predictive value of 96.7%, a negative predictive value of 69.2% in predicting active small bowel CD. Furthermore, the agreement between GIUS and CE was assessed using Spearman's correlation analysis and SUS-CD was correlated with Lewis score (r = 0.82, P < 0.001) CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate a strong correlation between GIUS and CE in assessing the disease activity in patients with CD affecting the small intestine.