Preoperative C-reactive Protein and Other Inflammatory Biomarkers as Predictors of Postoperative Complications in Colorectal Tumor Patients.

Objective: This study aims to explore the predictive value of preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) and other inflammatory biomarkers: platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for postoperative complications (infection, diarrhea, etc.) in colorectal tumor patients. Methods: A cohort of 109 colorectal tumor patients who underwent surgical resection for colorectal cancer at the hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected as the research subjects. Patients' postoperative complications were tracked, and they were split into the complication group and the non-complication group. All patients underwent preoperative biochemical tests. Serum levels of CRP, PLR, and NLR were compared between the two groups. The relationship between these markers and postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients was analyzed. A Logistic regression model was established to analyze their impact on postoperative complications, and a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to assess predictive value. Results: Among the 109 colorectal tumor patients, 31 cases (28.44%) experienced postoperative complications. The complication group had larger tumor diameters and a higher proportion of open surgeries compared to the non-complication group (P < .05). Serum levels of CRP, PLR, and NLR were higher in the complication group compared to the non-complication group (P < .05). Correlation analysis showed that serum CRP, PLR, and NLR values were positively correlated with postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients (r > 0, P < .05). The Logistic regression model revealed that high serum CRP levels (95%CI: 1.253-2.503), PLR (95%CI: 1.005-1.041), and NLR values (95%CI: 2.702-20.533) were risk factors for postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients (OR>1, P < .05). The ROC curve demonstrated that serum CRP levels, PLR, and NLR values had certain predictive values for postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients (AUC=0.811, 0.789, 0.870), the optimal predictive values were obtained when the cut-off values were set at 5.400 mg/L, 142.790, and 2.485, respectively and combined detection showed even higher predictive values (AUC=0.913). At 1 week post-surgery, the patient's CRP levels, PLR value, and NLR value were significantly lower than pre-surgery (P < .05). Conclusion: Preoperative serum CRP, PLR, and NLR values are closely related to postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients, and they can be used to predict the risk of postoperative complications in colorectal tumor patients. Clinically, early prediction of postoperative complications in patients can be achieved by measuring the aforementioned indicators, allowing for the implementation of appropriate preventive measures such as detoxification and infection control to improve patient outcomes.

Peptostreptococcus anaerobius is a potential diagnostic biomarker of colorectal cancer.

Accumulating evidences have shown that Peptostreptococcus anaerobius (P.a) is abundantly enriched in the fetus of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. P.a is reported able to invade colorectal tissues. This study intends to uncover the clinical significance of P.a in CRC. Mucosal tissues collected from CRC cases (n=109) and precancerous healthy ones (n=65) were subjected to the determination of the absolute copy number of P.a by droplet digital PCR. The positive rate of P.a in mucosal tissues of CRC and healthy ones was 79.8% (87/109), and 55.4% (36/65), respectively. The average absolute copy number of P.a in them was 2.3 copy/ng DNA, and 0.32 copy/ng DNA, respectively. The abundance of P.a in mucosal tissues of CRC, and age and TNM staging of CRC cases were correlated to its survival. The abundance of P.a in CRC cases was remarkably correlated to the relative level of SQLE. The abundance of P.a can be monitored to predict the prognosis of CRC.

Titanium implants modified by laser microtexturing enhance the bioactivity of gastric epithelial cells and fibroblast cells.

The clinical application of anastomotic instruments improves the efficiency of the digestive tract surgery. However, the stapler with titanium nails implanted is still controversial in terms of anastomotic complications, and further improvement and optimization are needed. The purpose of this study was to explore the optimal microtextured parameters that could enhance the bioactivity of titanium implants in vitro. Laser microtexturing technology was used to construct the groove-type microstructural surfaces with different parameters, and human gastric mucosal epithelial cells (GES-1 cells) and mouse fibroblasts (3T3 cells) were cultured on the surface of the titanium plates in vitro. The data of cell adhesion, cell proliferation and cell activity were obtained and statistically analyzed. The textured titanium plates meet the expected design. GES-1 and 3T3 cell adhesion were better in the surface of titanium plates in microstructural group than that in the polished group. GES-1 and 3T3 cells also showed higher proliferative activity in the microstructural group compared with the polished group. The laser textured titanium plates have good groove-type microstructure, which increase the surface roughness, change the surface wettability, promote the adhesion, proliferating and orderly growth of GES-1 and 3T3 cells, and show good biological properties.

Proximal gastrectomy versus total gastrectomy for adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction: a meta-analysis.

Aim: To compare efficacy between total gastrectomy (TG) and proximal gastrectomy (PG) for upper-third gastric cancer. Materials & methods: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane library were searched to select suitable researches. Stata was used for meta-analysis including 5-year overall survival rate, recurrence rate, complication morbidities and serum nutritional levels. Results: Ten retrospective English researches were contained. Our study showed no significant difference of 5-year overall survival rate, recurrence rate, reflux symptoms and anastomotic leakage. TG experienced longer operation time, more lymph nodes-retrieved number, more estimated blood loss and higher ileus, but less anastomotic stricture. PG showed advantages over TG in terms of serum nutritional levels. Conclusion: PG is more preferable to TG for treatment of upper-third gastric cancer.

A tetravalent single chain diabody (CD40/HER2) efficiently inhibits tumor proliferation through recruitment of T cells and anti-HER2 functions.

Our aim was to construct a CD40×HER2 single chain diabody (ScDb) and determine its tumor-specific immune activation and anti-HER2 function. Overlap extension-polymerase chain reaction was applied in the construction of ScDb, and the protein was expressed with the pET28a (+)-Rosetta prokaryotic expression system. Soluble ScDb was purified by a nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid column. Dendritic cells (DC) was stimulated by ScDb and inhibited 4T1 cells proliferation in vitro. In 4T1 tumor mice model, lymphocyte infiltration was prominently detected in ScDb group, Caspase-3 expression was significantly upregulated. ScDb was labeled using quantum dots. Immunofluorescence assay indicated ScDb exhibited high affinity to HER2. T6-17 cells were inhibited by ScDb in vitro. The phosphorylation and expression levels of AKT, ERK were markedly decreased. In T6-17 tumor mice model. Compared to CD40 ScFv, HER2 ScFv and normal saline groups, tumor volume diminished significantly in ScDb group, and tumor cells showed extensive deformation, and pervasive karyopyknosis and karyorrhexis were found. In the present study, we successfully constructed a ScDb fragment and expressed it using a prokaryotic expression system. The in vivo and in vitro experimental results indicated that ScDb could inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells by stimulating the tumor-specific immunoreaction and blocking the HER2-related signaling pathway.