Application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in diabetic foot ulcers: A meta-analysis.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used in patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) for many years, but its clinical efficacy is still controversial. Therefore, this study explored the efficacy of HBOT applied to DFU by means of meta-analysis. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI and Wanfang databases were searched, from database inception to October 2023, and published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of HBOT in DFU were collected. Two investigators independently screened the collected literature, extracted relevant data and assessed the quality of the literature. Review Manager 5.4 software was applied for data analysis. Twenty-nine RCTs with 1764 patients were included. According to the combined results, when compared with conventional treatment, HBOT significantly increased the complete healing rate of DFUs (46.76% vs. 24.46%, odds ratio [OR]: 2.83, 95% CI: 2.29-3.51, p < 0.00001) and decreased the amputation rate (26.03% vs. 45.00%, OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.18-0.95, p = 0.04), but the incidence of adverse events was significantly higher in patients (17.37% vs. 8.27%, OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.35-4.57, p = 0.003), whereas there was no significant difference in the mortality (6.96% vs. 12.71%, OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.21-1.28, p = 0.16). Our results suggest that HBOT is effective in increasing the complete healing rate and decreasing the amputation rate in patients with DFUs, but increases the incidence of adverse events, while it has no significant effect on mortality.

Copper transporter gene ATP7A: A predictive biomarker for immunotherapy and targeted therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: ATP7A is an important copper transporter that regulates numerous cellular biological processes. However, the role of ATP7A in immunotherapy and targeted therapy, especially for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), remains unknown. METHODS: We analyzed ATP7A expression and its effect on digestive system tumor prognoses, assessed its expression in tissue microarrays from 319 HCC patients, and investigated the relationship between ATP7A expression and tumor immunity. Specifically, we evaluated the possible association between ATP7A and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in human HCC tissues. Finally, we analyzed the effect of ATP7A on sorafenib efficacy in HCC. RESULTS: ATP7A is generally highly expressed in digestive system tumors but related to poor prognosis only in HCC. ATP7A levels are positively associated with immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression (especially PD-L1). HCC patients coexpressing APT7A and PD-L1 demonstrate poor prognoses. Moreover, HCC patients with high ATP7A levels were more sensitive to sorafenib and demonstrated higher survival rates after sorafenib treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights into the correlation between ATP7A levels and tumor immune infiltration and immune checkpoint function in HCC, sheds light on the significance of ATP7A in cancer progression, and provides guidance for more effective and general therapeutic strategies.

Microbial characteristics across different tongue coating types in a healthy population.

Background The physical appearance of tongue coatings is vital for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to diagnose health and disease status. The microbiota of different tongue coatings could also influence coating formation and be further associated with specific diseases. Previous studies have focused on bacteria from different tongue coatings in the context of specific diseases, but the normal variations in healthy individuals remain unknown.Aim: We examined the tongue microbiota by metagenomics in 94 healthy individuals classified into eight different tongue types.Results: The overall composition of the tongue coating microbiome is not drastically different among different coating types, similar to the findings of previous studies in healthy populations. Further analysis revealed microbiota characteristics of each coating type, and many of the key bacteria are reported to be implicated in diseases. Moreover, further inclusion of diabetic patients revealed disease-specific enrichment of Capnocytophaga, even though the same tongue coatings were studied.Conclusions: This work revealed the characteristic compositions of distinctive tongue coatings in a healthy population, which serves as a basis for understanding the tongue coating formation mechanism and provides a valuable reference to further investigate disease-specific tongue coating bacterial markers.

[Comparative study on selenium and amino acids content in leaves of planted and wild Scutellaria baicalensis].

Scutellaria baicalensis is one of the most important Chinese herbs. It is widely used in Asian medicine to improve impaired brain function and to treat headaches, and used to treat prostate cancer. It is also known to be anti-inflammatory and antifungal, and also seems to have antiviral properties, including possible effectiveness against HIV. Scutellaria baicalensis tea and other products are in development. In the present study, the content of selenium (Se) in leaves of planted and wild Scutellaria baicalensis was determined by fluorescence photometer. The contents of 18 kinds of amino acids in the leaves of planted and wild Scutellaria baicalensis were determined with amino acids instruments. The results showed that the two kinds of leaves were rich in Se content, and the content of Se in planted Scutellaria baicalensis (0.051 microg x g(-1)) was not significantly different from that in wild one (0.051 microg x g(-1), alpha = 0.05). The amino acids, of which the total content was up to 14.62% and 10.25% separately, were rich in both planted and wild Scutellaria baicalensis. Among the 18 kinds of amino acids, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and leucine were comparatively high in leaves of planted and wild Scutellaria baicalensis. There are 8 kinds of amino acids essential to human body, which were higher in leaves of planted Scutellaria baicalensis than those of wild one. This study, for the first time, determined Se and amino acids content in Scutellaria baicalensis and concluded that the leaves of planted type have Se and amino acids content not lower or higher than that of wild type, and the planted type could be a good substitute of wild type in the development of Scutellaria baicalensis products. This study also provided useful data for explaining the multifunction of Scutellaria baicalensis and theological basis for developing its medical and edible value.