Optical Surface-guided Radiation Therapy for Upper and Lower Limb Sarcomas: An Analysis of Setup Errors and Clinical Target Volume-To-Planning Target Volume Margins.

Purpose: To assess the clinical benefits of surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT) in terms of setup error, positioning time, and clinical target volume-to-planning target volume (CTV-PTV) margin in extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Methods and Materials: Fifty consecutive patients treated with radiation therapy were selected retrospectively. Treatment setup was performed with either laser-based imaging only (control group), or with laser-based and daily optical surface-based imaging (SGRT group). Pretreatment cone beam computed tomography images were acquired daily for the first 3 to 5 fractions and weekly thereafter, with the frequency adjusted as necessary. Translational and rotational errors were collected. CTV-PTV margin was calculated using the formula, 2.5Σ + 0.7σ. Results: Each group consisted of 10 and 15 upper and lower limb STSs, respectively. For patients with upper limb sarcomas, the translation errors were 1.64 ± 1.34 mm, 1.10 ± 1.50 mm, and 1.24 ± 1.45 mm in the SGRT group, and 1.48 ± 3.16 mm, 2.84 ± 2.85 mm, and 3.14 ± 3.29 mm in control group in the left-right, supero-inferior, and antero-posterior directions, respectively. Correspondingly, for patients with lower limb sarcomas, the translation errors were 1.21 ± 1.65 mm, 1.39 ± 1.71 mm, and 1.48 ± 2.10 mm in the SGRT group, and 1.81 ± 2.60 mm, 2.93 ± 3.28 mm, and 3.53 ± 3.75 mm in control group, respectively. The calculated CTV-PTV margins of the SGRT group and control group were 5.0, 3.8, 4.1 versus 5.9, 9.1, 10.1 mm for upper limb sarcomas; and 4.2, 4.7, 5.2 mm versus 6.3, 9.6, and 11.4 mm for lower limb sarcomas in the left-right, supero-inferior, and antero-posterior directions, respectively. Conclusions: Daily optical surface guidance can effectively improve the setup accuracy of extremity STS patients, and safely reduce the required CTV-PTV margins.

Construction and validation of a neovascular glaucoma nomogram in patients with diabetic retinopathy after pars plana vitrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Neovascular glaucoma (NVG) is likely to occur after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for diabetic retinopathy (DR) in some patients, thus reducing the expected benefit. Understanding the risk factors for NVG occurrence and building effective risk prediction models are currently required for clinical research. AIM: To develop a visual risk profile model to explore factors influencing DR after surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively selected 151 patients with DR undergoing PPV. The patients were divided into the NVG (NVG occurrence) and No-NVG (No NVG occurrence) groups according to the occurrence of NVG within 6 months after surgery. Independent risk factors for postoperative NVG were screened by logistic regression. A nomogram prediction model was established using R software, and the model's prediction accuracy was verified internally and externally, involving the receiver operator characteristic curve and correction curve. RESULTS: After importing the data into a logistic regression model, we concluded that a posterior capsular defect, preoperative vascular endothelial growth factor ≥ 302.90 pg/mL, glycosylated hemoglobin ≥ 9.05%, aqueous fluid interleukin 6 (IL-6) ≥ 53.27 pg/mL, and aqueous fluid IL-10 ≥ 9.11 pg/mL were independent risk factors for postoperative NVG in patients with DR (P < 0.05). A nomogram model was established based on the aforementioned independent risk factors, and a computer simulation repeated sampling method was used to internally and externally verify the nomogram model. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of the model were 0.962 [95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.932-0.991], 91.5%, and 82.3%, respectively. The AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of the external validation were 0.878 (95%CI: 0.746-0.982), 66.7%, and 95.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: A nomogram constructed based on the risk factors for postoperative NVG in patients with DR has a high prediction accuracy. This study can help formulate relevant preventive and treatment measures.

Investigation of the pharmacological effect and mechanism of mountain-cultivated ginseng and garden ginseng in cardiovascular diseases based on network pharmacology and zebrafish experiments.

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Mey) is a kind of perennial herb of the Panax genus in the Araliaceae family. The secondary metabolites of mountain-cultivated ginseng (MCG) and garden ginseng (GG) vary greatly due to their different growth environments. To date, the differences in their pharmacological effects on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and their clinical applications remain unclear. To distinguish between the components of MCG and GG, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was performed. Next, the relationship between the expression of metabolites and the categories of the sample were analyzed using supervised partial least squares discriminant analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis. A network-based pharmacology approach was developed and applied to determine the underlying mechanism of different metabolites in CVD. In the present study, the role of MCG and GG in angiogenesis and their protective effects on damaged blood vessels in a vascular injury model of zebrafish were investigated. Using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS, 11 different metabolites between MCG and GG were identified. In addition, 149 common target genes associated with the metabolites and CVD were obtained; these targets were related to tumor protein P53, proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src, human ubiquitin-52 amino acid fusion protein, ubiquitin-40S ribosomal protein S27a, polyubiquitin B, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, isocitrate dehydrogenase 1, vascular endothelial growth factor A, glycose synthase kinase-3B, and coagulation factor II and were associated with the regulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt signaling pathway, the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, and the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) signaling pathway, which play important roles in the curative effect in CVD treatment. Both types of ginseng can promote the growth of the subintestinal vessel plexus and protect injured intersegmental vessels through the HIF-1α/vascular endothelial growth factor signaling pathway in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, MCG has a stronger impact than GG. This is the first time metabolomics and network pharmacology methods were combined to study the difference between MCG and GG on CVDs, which provides a significant theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of CVD with two kinds of ginseng.

Cytotoxic Activity of Inositol Angelates and Tirucallane-Type Alkaloids from Amoora Dasyclada.

Three new inositol angelate compounds (1-3) and two new tirucallane-type alkaloids (4 and 5) were isolated from the Amoora dasyclada, and their structures were established mainly by means of combination of 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance and HR-ESI-MS. Based on cytotoxicity testing, compounds 4 and 5 exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell line HepG2 with IC50 value at 8.4 and 13.2 µM. In addition, compounds 4 and 5 also showed remarkable growth inhibitory activity to Artemia salina larvae.

Concave-lens-like long-period fiber grating bidirectional high-sensitivity bending sensor.

A novel bidirectional high-sensitivity fiber-optic bending sensor based on the concave-lens-like long-period fiber grating (CLL-LPFG) is designed and demonstrated. The CLL-LPFG is composed by an array of arc-shaped grating planes, and accordingly, its refractive index modulation serves as a concave lens. As a result, the eigencladding mode of the device gets closer to the device surface than the conventional counterpart. Therefore, the proposed sensor provides a more sensitive result. The experimental results show that the bending sensitivities of the CLL-LPFG reach -32.782 nm/m-1 within the bending range of 0-2.08 m-1, which is about sixfold compared to the reported arts. The sensitivity can be potentially improved by optimizing the grating parameters, and the temperature characteristics of the CLL-LPFG can be used to manipulate the grating spectrum.

In vivo and in vitro induction of the apoptotic effects of oxysophoridine on colorectal cancer cells via the Bcl-2/Bax/caspase-3 signaling pathway.

Oxysophoridine (OSR) is a major active alkaloid extracted from Sophoraalopecuroides L. The aim of the present study was to investigate the induction of the apoptotic effects of OSR on colorectal cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. The results of the MTT and colony formation assays demonstrated that the proliferation of HCT116 cells was inhibited by OSR in vitro. The characteristics of cellular apoptosis in OSR-treated HCT116 cells were analyzed by Hoechst 33258 staining. It was also observed that the expression of caspase-3, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) associated X protein (Bax) and cytochrome c increased significantly upon OSR treatment. However, the expression of Bcl-2 and poly ADP-ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) was downregulated in OSR-treated cells compared with untreated cells. The in vivo experiments identified that OSR significantly inhibited the growth of the transplanted mouse CT26 tumor tissue, upregulated the expression of caspase-3, Bax and cytochrome c and downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 and PARP-1, as detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. It may be concluded that OSR significantly induced apoptotic effects on colorectal cancer cells in vivo and in vitro, and that its mechanism may be associated with the Bcl-2/Bax/caspase-3 signaling pathway.

Dual Inhibition of Topoisomerase II and Tyrosine Kinases by the Novel Bis-Fluoroquinolone Chalcone-Like Derivative HMNE3 in Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Both tyrosine kinase and topoisomerase II (TopII) are important anticancer targets, and their respective inhibitors are widely used in cancer therapy. However, some combinations of anticancer drugs could exhibit mutually antagonistic actions and drug resistance, which further limit their therapeutic efficacy. Here, we report that HMNE3, a novel bis-fluoroquinolone chalcone-like derivative that targets both tyrosine kinase and TopII, induces tumor cell proliferation and growth inhibition. The viabilities of 6 different cancer cell lines treated with a range of HMNE3 doses were detected using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cellular apoptosis was determined using Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The expression of activated Caspase-3 was examined by immunocytochemistry. The tyrosine kinase activity was measured with a human receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) detection kit using a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated phosphotyrosine (pY20) antibody as the substrate. The topoisomerase II activity was measured using agarose gel electrophoresis with the DNA plasmid pBR322 as the substrate. The expression levels of the P53, Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, -8, -9, p-cSrc, c-Src and topoisomerase II proteins were detected by western blot analysis. The proliferation of five of the six cancer cell lines was significantly inhibited by HMNE3 at 0.312 to 10 µmol/L in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Treatment of the Capan-1 and Panc-1 cells with 1.6 to 3.2 µM HMNE3 for 48 h significantly increased the percentage of apoptotic cells (P<0.05), and this effect was accompanied by a decrease in tyrosine kinase activity. HMNE3 potentially inhibited tyrosine kinase activity in vitro with an IC50 value of 0.64±0.34 µmol/L in Capan-1 cells and 3.1±0.86 µmol/L in Panc-1 cells. The activity of c-Src was significantly inhibited by HMNE3 in a dose- and time-dependent manner in different cellular contexts. Compared with the control group, HMNE3 induced increased expression of cellular apoptosis-related proteins. Consistent with cellular apoptosis data, a significant decrease in topoisomerase IIß activity was noted following treatment with HMNE3 for 24 h. Our data suggest that HMNE3 induced apoptosis in Capan-1 and Panc-1 cells by inhibiting the activity of both tyrosine kinases and topoisomerase II.