Correlation between abdominal computed tomography signs and postoperative prognosis for patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with different stages of colorectal cancer (CRC) exhibit different abdominal computed tomography (CT) signs. Therefore, the influence of CT signs on CRC prognosis must be determined. AIM: To observe abdominal CT signs in patients with CRC and analyze the correlation between the CT signs and postoperative prognosis. METHODS: The clinical history and CT imaging results of 88 patients with CRC who underwent radical surgery at Xingtan Hospital Affiliated to Shunde Hospital of Southern Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to explore the independent risk factors for postoperative death in patients with CRC. The three-year survival rate was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier curve, and the correlation between postoperative survival time and abdominal CT signs in patients with CRC was analyzed using Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: For patients with CRC, the three-year survival rate was 73.86%. The death group exhibited more severe characteristics than the survival group. A multivariate Cox regression model analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), degree of periintestinal infiltration, tumor size, and lymph node CT value were independent factors influencing postoperative death (P < 0.05 for all). Patients with characteristics typical to the death group had a low three-year survival rate (log-rank χ 2 = 66.487, 11.346, 12.500, and 27.672, respectively, P < 0.05 for all). The survival time of CRC patients was negatively correlated with BMI, degree of periintestinal infiltration, tumor size, lymph node CT value, mean tumor long-axis diameter, and mean tumor short-axis diameter (r = -0.559, 0.679, -0.430, -0.585, -0.425, and -0.385, respectively, P < 0.05 for all). BMI was positively correlated with the degree of periintestinal invasion, lymph node CT value, and mean tumor short-axis diameter (r = 0.303, 0.431, and 0.437, respectively, P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: The degree of periintestinal infiltration, tumor size, and lymph node CT value are crucial for evaluating the prognosis of patients with CRC.

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound promotes osteoarthritic cartilage regeneration by BMSC-derived exosomes via modulating the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Osteoarthritis is the most common disabling joint disease throughout the world, and the effect of therapy on its course is still unsatisfactory in clinical practice. Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes can promote cartilage repair and regeneration in osteoarthritis, indicating that these exosomes could be a novel and promising strategy for treating osteoarthritis. This study investigated whether low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) enhances the effects of bone marrow MSC (BMSC)-derived exosomes on cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis and examined the underlying mechanism. Our results revealed that BMSC-derived exosomes display the typical morphological features of exosomes. LIPUS-mediated BMSC-derived exosomes promoted cartilage regeneration, increased chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis, suppressed inflammation, and inhibited the interleukin (IL)-1ß-induced activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. In brief, LIPUS enhances the promoting effects of BMSC-derived exosomes on osteoarthritic cartilage regeneration, mainly by strengthening the inhibition of inflammation and further enhancing chondrocyte proliferation and cartilage matrix synthesis. The underlying mechanism could be related to the inhibition of the IL-1ß-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway.