Prognostic Model Associated with Necroptosis in Colorectal Cancer based on Transcriptomic Analysis and Experimental Validation.

PURPOSE: Numerous studies have emphasised the importance of necroptosis in the malignant progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, whether necroptosis-related genes (NRGs) can be used to predict the prognosis of CRC remains to be revealed. METHODS: Patients with CRC were divided into two clusters based on the expression of NRGs, and prognosis was compared between the two clusters. A prognostic model was established based on NRGs, and its predictive efficiency was validated using Kaplan-Meier (K-M) curves, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and a nomogram. Immune infiltration, single-cell and drug sensitivity analyses were used to examine the effects of NRGs on the prognosis of CRC. RESULTS: The prognostic model served as a valid and independent predictor of CRC prognosis. Immune infiltration and single-cell analyses revealed that the unique immune microenvironment of CRC was regulated by NRGs. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that patients in the high- and low-risk groups were sensitive to different drugs. In addition, H2BC18 was found to play an important role in regulating the malignant progression of CRC. CONCLUSION: This study provides novel insights into precision immunotherapy based on NRGs in CRC. The NRG-based prognostic model may help to identify targeted drugs and develop more effective and individualised treatment strategies for patients with CRC.

A Dual-Crosslinked Hydrogel Based on Gelatin Methacryloyl and Sulfhydrylated Chitosan for Promoting Wound Healing.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. Skin injuries, especially full-thickness injuries, are a major treatment challenge in clinical practice. Therefore, wound dressing materials with therapeutic effects have great practical significance in healthcare. This study used photocrosslinkable gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and sulfhydrylated chitosan (CS-SH) to design a double-crosslinked hydrogel for wound dressing. When crosslinked together, the resulting hydrogels showed a highly porous inner structure, and enhanced mechanical properties and moisture retention capacity. The compression modulus of the GelMA/CS-SH hydrogel (GCH) reached up to about 40 kPa and was much higher than that of pure GelMA hydrogel, and the compression modulus was increased with the amount of CS-SH. In vitro study showed no cytotoxicity of obtained hydrogels. Interestingly, a higher concentration of CS-SH slightly promoted the proliferation of cells. Moreover, the double-crosslinked hydrogel exhibited antibacterial properties because of the presence of chitosan. In vivo study based on rats showed that full-thickness skin defects healed on the 15th day. Histological results indicate that the hydrogel accelerated the repair of hair follicles and encouraged the orderly growth of collagen fibers in the wound. Furthermore, better blood vessel formation and a higher expression of VEGFR were observed in the hydrogel group when compared with the untreated control group. Based on our findings, GCH could be a promising candidate for full-thickness wound dressing.

Compassion fatigue among haemodialysis nurses in public and private hospitals in China.

AIM: This study was conducted to identify and compare the levels of compassion fatigue and job satisfaction among haemodialysis nurses in public and private hospitals in China and explore explanatory factors based on sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted using a self-designed demographic questionnaire, the Professional Quality of Life Scale and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, with responses from 283 haemodialysis nurses working at six public and private hospitals in China between June and November 2018. RESULTS: The compassion fatigue score of public hospital nurses was significantly higher than that of private hospital nurses. Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in compassion fatigue among nurses based on the number of years worked, nature of employment, and education level. Correlational analysis showed a negative correlation between overall job satisfaction and compassion fatigue in both public and private hospitals. Multiple regression analysis showed that compassion fatigue among haemodialysis nurses in public hospitals was associated with years worked, type of employment, and intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, whereas in private hospitals, education level, years worked, and intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction were significant. CONCLUSION: Haemodialysis nurses in public hospitals are more likely to develop compassion fatigue than those in private hospitals.

Elucidating the Mechanism of Action of Salvia miltiorrhiza for the Treatment of Acute Pancreatitis Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Technology.

Using network pharmacology and molecular docking, this study investigated the molecular mechanisms by which the active components in Salvia miltiorrhiza can alleviate acute pancreatitis. Initially, the active components of Salvia miltiorrhiza and the targets collected from the GeneCards database were screened based on the platform of systematic pharmacology analysis of traditional Chinese medicine. Subsequently, the active components were intersected with the disease targets. Also, interactions among the targets were computed using the STRING database. Biological function and pathway enrichment were analyzed using the Cluster Profiler package in the R software. Protein-protein interaction and component target pathway network were constructed using the Cytoscape software. Ultimately, the key targets and their corresponding components in the network were verified using the AutoDock Vina software. The results showed Salvia miltiorrhiza had 111 targets for acute pancreatitis. The biological process (BP) analysis showed that the active components of Salvia miltiorrhiza induced a drug response, positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II promoter, signal transduction, positive regulation of cell proliferation, and negative regulation of apoptosis. Furthermore, the KEGG enrichment analysis screened 118 (P < 0.05) signaling pathways, such as the pathways related to cancer, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and cAMP signaling pathway, to name a few. Finally, molecular docking showed that the active components of Salvia miltiorrhiza had a good binding affinity with their corresponding target proteins. Through network pharmacology, this study predicted the potential pharmacodynamic material basis and the mechanisms by which Salvia miltiorrhiza can treat acute pancreatitis. Moreover, this study provided a scientific basis for mining the pharmacodynamic components of Salvia miltiorrhiza and expanding the scope of its clinical use.

A rare case of angiosarcoma with skull masses and erythropenia and thrombocytopenia: A case report and review of literature.

RATIONALE: Primary splenic angiosarcoma (PSA) is a rare, fatal neoplasm originating from sinusoidal vascular endothelial cells, and usually metastasizes and almost always has a poor prognosis. Surgical excision is the main treatment of this highly malignant disease. PATIENT CONCERNS: We reported a special case of a 68-year-old female who had a 6-month history of scalp masses. DIAGNOSIS: The patient was found to have 2 skull masses on computed tomography (CT). Laboratory findings revealed erythropenia and thrombocytopenia. Enhanced abdomen magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple masses in liver and spleen. The pathological result of the skull masses was revealed to be metastatic angiosarcoma. INTERVENTIONS: The patient underwent surgical excision of skull masses, and no subsequent radiotherapy or chemotherapy was done. OUTCOMES: The patient died due to dyscrasia at August 12, 2015, with a survival of nearly 1 month. LESSONS: We highlight the importance for clinicians to be aware of this rare neoplasm, and to consider it in the differential diagnosis when encountering a skull mass. Early confirmation and treatment may improve the prognosis.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analysis reveals chondroprotective effects of astragaloside IV in interleukin-1ß-induced SW1353 chondrocyte-like cells.

OBJECTIVE: Chondrocyte apoptosis played a key role on the progression of Osteoarthritis (OA). Safe and effective drugs are urgently needed for the treatment of OA. Previous study reported that Astragaloside IV (ASG-IV) had exerted a protective effect against articular cartilage degeneration by promoting rapid proliferation of chondrocyte. Therefore, the aim of our study is to explore the effects and mechanisms of ASG-IV in chondrocyte apoptosis. METHODS: Isobaric Tags For Relative And Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomics was used to quantitatively detect and map proteins in SW1353 chondrocyte-like cells pre-treated with ASG-IV or interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) or ASG-IV+IL-1ß. The iTRAQ-labeled peptides were fractionated by high-accuracy liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Cell apoptosis and differentially expressed proteins was detected by flow cytometry (FCM), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and western blotting, respectively. RESULTS: The apoptosis of the IL-1ß-induced SW1353 cells treated with ASG-IV was greatly inhibited. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that gamma actin 1 (ACTG1) and Yes Associated Protein 1 (YAP1), participating in the Hippo signaling pathway and Vitronectin (VTN) and Collagen Type I Alpha 1 Chain (COL1A1), involving in the extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction signaling pathway, were all significantly up-regulated in the IL-1ß-induced SW1353 cells after treatment with ASG-IV. The qRT-PCR and Western blotting results confirmed the up-regulation of these four genes. CONCLUSION: ASG-IV played a positive role in human osteoarthritic chondrocyte apoptosis, possibly through modulation of the Hippo signaling pathway by up-regulating YAP1and ACTG1 expression, and also by up-regulating VTN and COL1A1, which are involved in the ECM-receptor interaction pathway. Taken together, all the results suggested that ASG-IV had a novel therapeutic potential for the treatment of OA.

Postnatal Identification of Trisomy 21: An Overview of 7,133 Postnatal Trisomy 21 Cases Identified in a Diagnostic Reference Laboratory in China.

This study describes the cytogenetic characteristics of 7,133 trisomy 21 (Tri21) identified from 247,818 consecutive postnatal cases karyotyped in a single reference laboratory in China for a period of 4 years. The average detection rate of Tri21 is 2.88% ranging from 3.39% in 2011 to 2.52% in 2014. The decreased detection rates over the years might reflect a possible impact of noninvasive prenatal testing applied rapidly in China and elective termination of affected pregnancies. 95.32% of the Tri21 karyotypes are standard Tri21, 4.53% are Robertsonian Tri21, and less than 1% are other Tri21 forms. There are more mosaic Tri21 in older children and adults, consistent with previous observations that clinical features in individuals with mosaic Tri21 are generally milder and easily missed during perinatal period. The male/female (M/F ratio) for the total 7,133 Tri21 cases and for the 6,671 cases with non-mosaic standard Tri21 are 1.50 and 1.53 respectively, significantly higher than the 0.93 for all the 247,818 cases we karyotyped, the 1.30 for the Down syndrome (DS) identified during perinatal period in China, and the 1.20 for the livebirth in Chinese population. In contrast, the mosaic standard Tri21 case has a significantly lower proportion of males when compared with the non-mosaic standard Tri21, indicating different underlying mechanisms leading to their formations. Opposite M/F ratios in different subtypes of ROB Tri21 were observed. A long list of rare or private karyotypes where Tri21 are concurrently present was identified. The large collection of Tri21 cases with a diversity of clinical findings and a wide age range allowed us to determine the frequency of the different karyotypes of Down syndrome in China, given the fact that this kind of national epidemiological data is lacking currently.

Therapeutic effect of polysaccharide of large yellow croaker swim bladder on lupus nephritis of mice.

The therapeutic effect of polysaccharide of large yellow croaker swim bladder (PLYCSB) on lupus nephritis has been studied in vivo. A high concentration (50 mg/kg dose) of PLYCSB reduced the levels of serum inflammatory cytokine levels of IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ compared to a low concentration (25 mg/kg dose) and control mice. SCr, BUN, TC and TG serum levels of PLYCSB treated mice were lower than those of control mice, and TP and ALB serum levels were higher than control mice. Control mice tested ds-DNA positive at the 6th week, and 50 mg/kg treated mice tested at the 10th week after the experiment began. The output of urine protein of 50 mg/kg PLYCSB treated mice was most closely comparable to the normal mice. The glomerular number of 50 mg/kg PLYCSB treated mice was more than the 25 mg/kg dose and control groups, and the 50 mg/kg dose group showed the lowest glomerular sclerosis index in lupus nephritis mice. By RT-PCR and western blot assay, PLYCSB significantly induced inflammation in kidney tissues of mice by downregulating NF-κB-p65, TGF-ß1, Fas, FasL and upregulating IκB-α. These results suggest that PLYCSB showed a potential curative effect on lupus nephritis as a drug or functional food.

[Effect of electroacupuncture on leptin and adiponectin in simple obesity patients].

OBJECTIVE: To probe into the underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) for simple obesity patients. METHODS: Sixty simple obesity patients were randomly divided into control, manual acupuncture (MA) and EA groups with 20 cases in each group. Acupoint groups (1) Liangqiu (ST 34), Xuehai (SP 10), etc.; (2) Gongsun (SP 4), Neiting (ST 44), etc. were punctured respectively for MA groups (once every other day, 27 times altogether), and in combination with EA (2-5 mA, 0.8-3 Hz, 30 min) of bilateral Tianshu (ST 25), Fujie (SP 14), etc. for EA group. Serum leptin (Lep) and adiponectin (Adi) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: After the treatment, of the 20 cases in control, MA and EA groups, 0 (0%), 0(0%) and 4 (20. 0%) were cured; 0 (0%), 10 (50.0%) and 14 (70.0%) were improved remarkably; 1 (5.0%), 7 (35.0%) and 1 (5.0%) were effective; 19 (95.0%), 3 (15.0%) and 1 (5.0%) failed, with the effective rates being 5.0%, 85.0% and 95.0% separately. The therapeutic effects of both MA and EA groups were significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.01). After the treatment, serum Lep levels in both MA and EA groups decreased significantly, and serum Adi contents of these two groups increased considerably compared with their own basic values of pre-treatment (P < 0.05, 0.01), and the effects of EA were markedly better than those of MA and control groups (P < 0.05). No significant changes were found in Lep and Adi levels in control group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both EA and manual acupuncture can effectively lower blood Lep content and raise blood Adi in simple obesity patients, which may contribute to its effect in reducing body. weight. The effect of EA is significantly superior t o that of manual acupuncture in the treatment of simple obesity.