[Research progress on the association between occupational dust and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a global public health problem. Risk factors for COPD include smoking, occupational dust, air pollutants, and genetic, developmental, and social factors. The list of occupational diseases of the International Labour Organization, the European Union and Taiwan, China all includes COPD caused by occupational dust. At present, there is no diagnostic standard for COPD caused by occupational dust in the mainland of China. In order to promote the full protection of workers' rights and interests and better prevent occupational COPD, this paper reviewed the association between occupational dust and COPD, so as to draw public attention to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by occupational dust.

Relationship of Cognitive Function with Oxygenated Haemoglobin Concentration Difference Between the Left and Right Prefrontal Cortex During 40-Min Moderate-Intensity Exercise.

The high concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin (O2Hb) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during exercise improves cognitive performance. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the relationship of cognitive function with the O2Hb concentration difference between the left and right PFC (L-PFC and R-PFC, respectively) during sustained exercise. We enrolled 12 healthy adult males who, after a 4-min rest and warm-up, performed a 40-min exercise regime at a workload corresponding to 50% maximal oxygen consumption. A 2-back task was performed, and the reaction times (RTs) were recorded before exercise, immediately after exercise, and 20 min after exercise. Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor L-PFC and R-PFC. RT was shortened immediately and 20 min after exercise, and O2Hb concentration difference between L-PFC and R-PFC positively correlated with RT 20 min after exercise. These findings suggest that 40-min exercise induced a phenomenon of neural compensation.

[Protective effect and mechanism of rapamycin on pulmonary fibrosis induced by Chlormethine in mice].

To evaluate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of rapamycin (RAPA) on pulmonary fibrosis induced by chlormethine in C57BL/6N mice. Based on body weight, the 18-20 g C57BL/6N mice were randomly divided into five groups: control group, chlormethine group, chlormethine+dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) group, chlormethine+RAPA (1 mg/kg) group and chlormethine+RAPA (2 mg/kg) group, with ten mice in each group. Mice were put to death on the 21st day after the first administration of chlormethine. HE staining and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes and degree of fibrosis in the lung tissue of mice, and RT-PCR was used to detect collagen Ⅰ, E-cadherin, vimentin, and α-SMA mRNA expression. After 21 days of administration of chlormethine to mice, significant pulmonary fibrosis characteristics were observed in the lung tissue of the mice. Compared with the chlormethine group, the weight of mice in the chlormethine+dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) group, chlormethine+RAPA (1 mg/kg) group and chlormethine+RAPA (2 mg/kg) group, significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the chlormethine group, the expression of pulmonary fibrosis-related indicators (collagen Ⅰ, E-cadherin, vimentin, and α-SMA) significantly improved (P<0.05) in the chlormethine+dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) group, chlormethine+RAPA (1 mg/kg) group and chlormethine+RAPA (2 mg/kg) group. Compared with the chlormethine group, the pathological changes and collagen deposition in the lung tissue of mice in the chlormethine+dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) group, chlormethine+RAPA (1 mg/kg) group and chlormethine+RAPA (2 mg/kg) group, were significantly improved. Transcriptome analysis of the lung tissue of mice revealed that RAPA treatment of chlormethine-induced pulmonary fibrosis might be related to NF-kappa B signaling pathway. Compared with the chlormethine group, the mRNA expression of p65 in the lung tissue of mice in the chlormethine+dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) group, chlormethine+RAPA (1 mg/kg) group and chlormethine+RAPA (2 mg/kg) group, significantly decreased (P<0.01). RAPA has a protective effect on pulmonary fibrosis induced by chlormethine in mice. Its efficacy is comparable to that of dexamethasone, which is currently being used in clinical practice. It is a new alternative therapy, and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting the activation of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway.

[Delphi method investigation and research on the revision of Diagnosis of Occupational Arsenic Poisoning (GBZ 83-2013)].

Objective: To explore the expert opinions on the revision of the Diagnosis of Occupational Arsenic Poisoning (GBZ 83-2013) . Methods: In March 2023, the improved Delphi expert consultation method was adopted, in the first round of consultation, a pre-survey was conducted on 20 experts, and the questionnaire was improved according to the experts' opinions. Then, a second round of expert consultation questionnaire was formed to conduct a questionnaire survey and consultation of 50 experts engaged in occupational disease diagnosis and related work. The feedback of experts was collected and analyzed. Results: The average score for the scientificity and progressiveness of the main technical content of the original standard was 3.33, and the average score for the rationality and operability of the main technical content of the original standard was 3.25. The importance of individual indicators with specific connotations were ranged from 4.20 to 4.45, with coefficients of variation <0.25, and the experts' opinions were relatively concentrated. The experts have provided feedback indicating that the original standard had issues such as lack of continuity in diagnostic gradation, the need to integrate biomarkers with urinary and hair arsenic levels, a scarcity of objective diagnostic indicators, the removal of exposure response from the main text, and a low level of consistency in standard usage. These issues need to be revised urgently. Conclusion: The Diagnosis of Occupational Arsenic Poisoning (GBZ 83-2013) should be revised based on experts' feedback and suggestions to meet the current real demand for occupational arsenic poisoning diagnosis.

[Long-term hypomethylating agents in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: a multi-center retrospective study].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hypomethylating agents (HMA) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) . Methods: A total of 409 MDS patients from 45 hospitals in Zhejiang province who received at least four consecutive cycles of HMA monotherapy as initial therapy were enrolled to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HMA. Mann-Whitney U or Chi-square tests were used to compare the differences in the clinical data. Logistic regression and Cox regression were used to analyze the factors affecting efficacy and survival. Kaplan-Meier was used for survival analysis. Results: Patients received HMA treatment for a median of 6 cycles (range, 4-25 cycles) . The complete remission (CR) rate was 33.98% and the overall response rate (ORR) was 77.02%. Multivariate analysis revealed that complex karyotype (P=0.02, OR=0.39, 95%CI 0.18-0.84) was an independent favorable factor for CR rate. TP53 mutation (P=0.02, OR=0.22, 95%CI 0.06-0.77) was a predictive factor for a higher ORR. The median OS for the HMA-treated patients was 25.67 (95%CI 21.14-30.19) months. HMA response (P=0.036, HR=0.47, 95%CI 0.23-0.95) was an independent favorable prognostic factor, whereas complex karyotype (P=0.024, HR=2.14, 95%CI 1.10-4.15) , leukemia transformation (P<0.001, HR=2.839, 95%CI 1.64-4.92) , and TP53 mutation (P=0.012, HR=2.19, 95%CI 1.19-4.07) were independent adverse prognostic factors. There was no significant difference in efficacy and survival between the reduced and standard doses of HMA. The CR rate and ORR of MDS patients treated with decitabine and azacitidine were not significantly different. The median OS of patients treated with decitabine was longer compared with that of patients treated with azacitidine (29.53 months vs 20.17 months, P=0.007) . The incidence of bone marrow suppression and pneumonia in the decitabine group was higher compared with that in the azacitidine group. Conclusion: Continuous and regular use of appropriate doses of hypomethylating agents may benefit MDS patients to the greatest extent if it is tolerated.

Standardized IETA criteria enhance accuracy of junior and intermediate ultrasound radiologists in diagnosing malignant endometrial and intrauterine lesions.

OBJECTIVES: To transform the standardized descriptions of the ultrasound characteristics of endometrial and intrauterine lesions devised by the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) group into a practical scoring method and to investigate whether application of this method enhances the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound radiologists with different levels of experience in detecting malignancy compared with subjective assessment. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 855 patients with endometrial and/or intrauterine lesions, who were divided into a training (n = 600) and a validation (n = 255) set. Ultrasound radiologists with varying levels of experience (expert, intermediate and junior) evaluated all lesions by subjective assessment and according to IETA rules. Using IETA rules, the experts identified signs of malignancy in the training set, assigned scores for each indicator and validated the scoring method in the validation set. The intermediate-level and junior ultrasound radiologists reassessed the malignancy of the lesions using the IETA scoring method and compared their classifications with those made previously by subjective assessment. Postsurgical pathological evaluation was used as the reference standard. RESULTS: Using subjective assessment, the experts demonstrated the highest level of diagnostic accuracy, with a sensitivity of 85.0%, specificity of 94.3% and an area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve (AUC) of 0.897. Applying the IETA scoring method (comprising eight ultrasound characteristics that contributed to the total score) with a threshold of > 25 points for the diagnosis of malignancy achieved a sensitivity of 84.7%, specificity of 94.7% and AUC of 0.9533 in the training set, with similar performance in the validation set, when performed by experts. Using the IETA scoring method, both junior and intermediate ultrasound radiologists showed improvement in sensitivity (from 55.5% to 74.8% and from 70.2% to 77.1%, respectively), specificity (from 88.4% to 91.5% and from 87.4% to 92.2%, respectively) and AUC (from 0.704 to 0.827 and from 0.793 to 0.841, respectively) for diagnosing malignant lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The IETA scoring method exhibits high diagnostic efficacy for malignant endometrial and intrauterine lesions. This method compensates for the lack of experience among junior and intermediate-level ultrasound radiologists, enhancing their diagnostic skill to a level nearing that of experienced senior ultrasound radiologists. Further research is essential to validate the practicality of implementing this method and to confirm its clinical value. © 2024 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Lung function and health-related quality of life among adult patients following pulmonary TB treatment.

Pulmonary TB (PTB) increases the risk of chronic lung complications, which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We determined the prevalence and predictors of post-TB lung disease and persistent symptoms in a resource-limited setting.Adults who completed PTB treatment underwent spirometry and completed the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), a questionnaire that assesses quality of life on symptom, activity, and impact. We performed multivariate analyses to calculate the X-adjusted prevalence ratio (PRadj) of abnormal spirometry and identify associated risk factors.Among the 162 participants, 89 (54.9%) were male. The median age was 32 years, and 65 (40.1%) had HIV. Overall, 65 participants (40.1%) had abnormal lung function, with spirometric restriction seen in 29.0%, obstruction in 4.9%, and a mixed pattern in 6.2%. Smoking (PRadj 1.88, 95% CI 1.11-3.16; P = 0.02) and female sex (PRadj 1.81, 95% Cl 1.15-2.84; P = 0.01) were independent risk factors for abnormal lung function. The median SGRQ scores were higher in participants with cavitation (P < 0.001) or bilateral consolidation on initial chest X-ray (P = 0.01).Lung function abnormalities, particularly spirometric restriction, are common in patients completing PTB treatment. Female sex and smoking status were associated with lung function abnormalities; therefore, additional studies to understand the underlying mechanistic pathways are warranted..

[Pituitary Crooke cell neuroendocrine tumor of adrenocorticotropic hormone differentiation-specific transcription factor lineage: a clinicopathological analysis of six cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features of Crooke cell tumor of adrenocorticotropic hormone differentiation specific transcription factor (TPIT, also known as transcription factor 19, TBX19) lineage neuroendocrine tumors. Methods: Six cases of Crooke cell tumor diagnosed at the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China from October 2019 to October 2023 were collected. The clinical and pathological features of these cases were analyzed. Results: Among the six cases, one was male and five were female, with ages ranging from 26 to 75 years, and an average age of 44 years. All tumors occurred within the sella turcica. Clinical presentations included visual impairment in two cases, menstrual disorders in one case, Cushing's syndrome in one case, headache in one case, and one asymptomatic case discovered during a physical examination. Preoperative serum analyses revealed elevated levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormones in two cases, elevated cortisol in two cases, elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone in one case, and one case with a mild increase in prolactin due to the pituitary stalk effect. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed uneven enhancement of masses with maximum diameters ranging from 1.7 to 3.2 cm, all identified as macroadenomas. Microscopically, tumor cells exhibited irregular polygonal shapes, solid sheets, or pseudo-papillary arrangements around blood vessels. The cell nuclei were eccentric or centrally located, varying in size, with abundant cytoplasm. Some tumor cells showed perinuclear halo. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated diffuse strong positivity for TPIT in five cases, focal weak positivity for TPIT in one case, diffuse strong positivity for adrenocorticotropic hormone in all cases, and faint staining around the nuclei in a few cells. CK8/18 showed a strong positive ring pattern in more than 50% of tumor cells, focal weak positive expression of p53, and the Ki-67 positive index ranged 1%-5%. Periodic acid-Schiff staining revealed positive cytoplasm and negative perinuclear areas. Conclusions: Crooke cell tumor is a rare type of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. Its pathological characteristics include a distinctive perinuclear clear zone and immunohistochemical markers, such as CK8/18 exhibiting a ring or halo pattern. This entity represents a high-risk subtype among pituitary neuroendocrine tumors, displaying a high risk of invasion and a propensity for recurrence. Accurate diagnosis is crucial for the postoperative follow-up and multimodal treatment planning.

Retraction Note: Resveratrol protects myocardial apoptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion in rats with acute myocardial infarction via blocking P13K/Akt/e-NOS pathway.

The article "Resveratrol protects myocardial apoptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion in rats with acute myocardial infarction via blocking P13K/Akt/e-NOS pathway", by X. Zhang, L.-F. Huang, L. Hua, H.-K. Feng, B. Shen, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (4): 1789-1796-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201902_17142-PMID: 30840305 has been retracted by the Editor in Chief. Following some concerns raised on PubPeer (link: https://pubpeer.com/publications/6A6E686494A160FBE7A1725E5CE30C) regarding figure duplication in Figures 1 and 2A, the Editor in Chief has started an investigation to assess the validity of the results as well as possible figure manipulation. The journal investigation revealed a figure duplication between the panels AMI and AMI+RSV+LY of Figure 1. The authors were informed about the journal's investigation but remained unresponsive and did not provide the study's raw data. Consequently, the Editor in Chief mistrusts the results presented and has decided to retract the article. This article has been retracted. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/17142.

[Soy isoflavones alleviates calcium overload in rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion by inhibiting the Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism by which soybean isoflavone (SI) reduces calcium overload induced by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). METHODS: Forty-eight SD rats were randomized into 4 groups to receive sham operation, cerebral middle artery occlusion for 2 h followed by 24 h of reperfusion (I/R model group), or injection of adeno-associated virus carrying Frizzled-2 siRNA or empty viral vector into the lateral cerebral ventricle after modeling.Western blotting was used to examine Frizzled-2 knockdown efficiency and changes in protein expressions in the Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway.Calcium levels and pathological changes in the ischemic penumbra (IP) were measured using calcium chromogenic assay and HE staining, respectively.Another 72 SD randomly allocated for sham operation, I/R modeling, or soy isoflavones pretreatment before modeling were examined for regional cerebral blood flow using a Doppler flowmeter, and the cerebral infarct volume was assessed using TTC staining.Pathologies in the IP area were evaluated using HE and Nissl staining, and ROS level, Ca2+ level, cell apoptosis, and intracellular calcium concentration were analyzed using immunofluorescence assay or flow cytometry; the protein expressions of Wnt5a, Frizzled-2, and P-CaMK Ⅱ in the IP were detected with Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In rats with cerebral I/R, Frizzled-2 knockdown significantly lowered calcium concentration (P < 0.001) and the expression levels of Wnt5a, Frizzled-2, and P-CaMK Ⅱ in the IP area.In soy isoflavones-pretreated rats, calcium concentration, ROS and MDA levels, cell apoptosis rate, cerebral infarct volume, and expression levels of Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway-related proteins were all significantly lower while SOD level was higher than those in rats in I/R model group. CONCLUSION: Soy isoflavones can mitigate calcium overload in rats with cerebral I/R by inhibiting the Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway.

[Exogenous leptin improves cerebral ischemia-reperfusion-induced glutamate excitotoxic injury in mice by up-regulating GLT-1 and GLAST expression in astrocytes].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of exogenous leptin against focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in mice and explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: A total of 100 C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 5 groups, including a sham-operated group, cerebral I/R model group, and 3 leptin treatment groups with intraperitoneal injections of 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 leptin immediately after occlusion of the internal carotid artery. At 24 h after reperfusion, neurological function scores of the mice were assessed, and TTC staining was used to determine the area of cerebral infarction. The pathological changes in the cortical brain tissue of the mice were observed using HE staining, and degenerative damage of the cortical neurons were assessed with Fluoro-Jade C staining. The expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in cortical brain tissues was detected using immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. In another 45 C57BL/6 mice with sham operation, I/R modeling, or leptin (1 mg/kg) treatment, glutamic acid in the cortical brain tissue was detected using glutamate assay, and cortical glutamate-aspartate transporter (GLAST) and glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) protein expressions were detected using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the I/R model mice, the leptin-treated mice had significantly lower neurological deficit scores, smaller cerebral infarct area, milder pathologies in the cortical brain tissue, and lessened cortical neuronal damage with normal morphology and less excessive proliferation of the astrocytes. Leptin treatment significantly up-regulated the expressions of GLT-1 and GLAST and lowered the content of glutamic acid in the brain tissue of the I/R mice. CONCLUSION: Exogenous leptin has obvious neuroprotective effect against cerebral I/R injury in mice, mediated probably by controlling excessive astrocyte proliferation and up-regulating cortical GLT-1 and GLAST expressions to reduce glutamate-mediated excitotoxic injury of the astrocytes.

[Development of a grading diagnostic model for schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis based on radiomics and clinical laboratory indicators].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of developing a grading diagnostic model for schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis based on B-mode ultrasonographic images and clinical laboratory indicators. METHODS: Ultrasound images and clinical laboratory testing data were captured from schistosomiasis patients admitted to the Second People's Hospital of Duchang County, Jiangxi Province from 2018 to 2022. Patients with grade I schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis were enrolled in Group 1, and patients with grade II and III schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis were enrolled in Group 2. The machine learning binary classification tasks were created based on patients'radiomics and clinical laboratory data from 2018 to 2021 as the training set, and patients'radiomics and clinical laboratory data in 2022 as the validation set. The features of ultrasonographic images were labeled with the ITK-SNAP software, and the features of ultrasonographic images were extracted using the Python 3.7 package and PyRadiomics toolkit. The difference in the features of ultrasonographic images was compared between groups with t test or Mann-Whitney U test, and the key imaging features were selected with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression algorithm. Four machine learning models were created using the Scikit-learn repository, including the support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), linear regression (LR) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). The optimal machine learning model was screened with the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and features with the greatest contributions to the differentiation features of ultrasound images in machine learning models with the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. RESULTS: The ultrasonographic imaging data and clinical laboratory testing data from 491 schistosomiasis patients from 2019 to 2022 were included in the study, and a total of 851 radiomics features and 54 clinical laboratory indicators were captured. Following statistical tests (t = -5.98 to 4.80, U = 6 550 to 20 994, all P values < 0.05) and screening of key features with LASSO regression, 44 features or indicators were included for the subsequent modeling. The areas under ROC curve (AUCs) were 0.763 and 0.611 for the training and validation sets of the SVM model based on clinical laboratory indicators, 0.951 and 0.892 for the training and validation sets of the SVM model based on radiomics, and 0.960 and 0.913 for the training and validation sets of the multimodal SVM model. The 10 greatest contributing features or indicators in machine learning models included 2 clinical laboratory indicators and 8 radiomics features. CONCLUSIONS: The multimodal machine learning models created based on ultrasound-based radiomics and clinical laboratory indicators are feasible for intelligent identification of schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis, and are effective to improve the classification effect of one-class data models.

[Report on the application of endoscopic intermuscular dissection for diagnostic resection of early rectal cancer].

Objective: This report presents the initial outcomes of endoscopic intermuscular dissection (EID), a novel technique introduced by our team for the diagnostic resection of early rectal cancer, focusing on the postoperative status of the vertical margins. Methods: On January 26, 2024, a patient with early rectal cancer (cT1-2N0M0) underwent Endoscopic Intermuscular Dissection. The EID procedure consists of six steps: (1) mucosal incision; (2) submucosal dissection; (3) superficial muscular layer incision; (4) intermuscular dissection; (5) complete tumor removal; (6) wound management. Results: The patient was a 70-year-old male with rectal cancer (cT1-2N0M0). The tumor was located on the left anterior wall of the rectum, approximately 9 cm from the anal margin, and measured 20mm in size. The dissection rate was 2.68 mm²/minute, and the total duration of the surgery was 109 minutes. The patient was successfully discharged on the fifth day after surgery. Pathological examination of the post-endoscopic surgery specimen revealed pT1b, with negative vertical margins. Follow-up after more than one month showed good recovery with no complications such as bleeding, perforation, infection, or stricture occurring. Colonoscopy indicated the presence of a granulation tissue suggestive of inflammation. Conclusion: Endoscopic Intermuscular Dissection for the diagnostic resection of early rectal cancer is potentially safe and may achieve negative vertical margins.

[Association between prenatal exposure to PM2.5 and fetal growth: a prospective cohort study].

Objective: To investigate the association of exposure to PM2.5 and its constituents during pregnancy and fetal growth and to further identify critical windows of exposure for fetal growth. Methods: We included 4 089 mother-child pairs from the Jiangsu Birth Cohort Study between January 2016 and October 2019. Data of general characteristics, clinical information, daily average PM2.5 exposure, and its constituents during pregnancy were collected. Fetal growth parameters, including head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL), were measured by ultrasound after 20 weeks of gestation, and then estimated fetal weight (EFW) was calculated. Generalized linear mixed models were adopted to examine the associations of prenatal exposure to PM2.5 and its constituents with fetal growth. Distributed lag nonlinear models were used to identify critical exposure windows for each outcome. Results: A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy was associated with a decrease of 0.025 (ß=-0.025, 95%CI: -0.048- -0.001) in HC Z-score, 0.026 (ß=-0.026, 95%CI: -0.049- -0.003) in AC Z-score, and 0.028 (ß=-0.028, 95%CI:-0.052--0.004) in EFW Z-score, along with an increased risk of 8.5% (RR=1.085, 95%CI: 1.010-1.165) and 13.5% (RR=1.135, 95%CI: 1.016-1.268) for undergrowth of HC and EFW, respectively. Regarding PM2.5 constituents, prenatal exposure to black carbon, organic matter, nitrate, sulfate (SO42-) and ammonium consistently correlated with decreased HC Z-score. SO42- exposure was also associated with decreased FL Z-scores. In addition, we found that gestational weeks 2-5 were critical windows for HC, weeks 4-13 and 19-40 for AC, weeks 4-13 and 23-37 for FL, and weeks 4-12 and 20-40 for EFW. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that exposure to PM2.5 and its constituents during pregnancy could adversely affect fetal growth and the critical windows for different fetal growth parameters are not completely consistent.

[Expression of DARS2 in colorectal cancer and its clinical significance].

Objective: To investigate the expression of DARS2 and its clinical significance in colorectal cancer. Methods: In this study, bioinformatics tools, especially gene expression profile interactive analysis 2 (GEPIA2), were used to conduct an in-depth analysis of DARS2 expression in colorectal cancer tissues. Immunohistochemical staining was carried out in 108 colorectal cancer specimens and 30 normal colorectal tissues obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China. Colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and SW480) were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) and DARS2 overexpression plasmid to examine the effects of DARS2 knockdown and overexpression on cell function. To assess the effects on cell function, CCK8 and transwell migration assays were used to assess proliferation and cell motility, respectively. Additionally, protein immunoblotting was employed to scrutinize the expression of proteins associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colorectal cancer cells. Results: DARS2 exhibited a pronounced upregulation in expression within colorectal cancer tissues compared to their normal epithelial counterparts. Furthermore, DARS2 expression was higher in colorectal cancer of stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ than those of stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ, exhibiting a significant correlation with N staging, M staging, and pathological staging (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analyses showed a decreased overall survival rate in colorectal cancer with DARS2 expression compared to those without DARS2 expression (P<0.05). In the siRNA transfection group, there was a significant reduction in cell proliferation and migration (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). Conversely, the transfection of DARS2 overexpression plasmids substantially increased both cell proliferation and migration (P<0.05). Additionally, immunoblotting revealed that DARS2 knockdown led to an upregulation of E-cadherin expression and a downregulation of N-cadherin and vimentin expression. In contrast, DARS2 overexpression resulted in increased N-cadherin and vimentin expression, coupled with reduction in E-cadherin expression. Conclusions: There is a strong association between DARS2 expression and colorectal cancer progression. Silencing DARS2 inhibits cell proliferation and migration, exerting a discernible influence on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process.