[Research progress of nervous system damage in Pompe disease]. / åºžè´ç— ç¥žç»ç³»ç»ŸæŸä¼¤çš„ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

Pompe disease, also known as glycogen storage disease type Ⅱ, is a rare autosomal recessive disease. With the application of enzyme replacement therapy, more and more patients with Pompe disease can survive to adulthood, and nervous system-related clinical manifestations gradually emerge. Nervous system involvement seriously affects the quality of life of patients with Pompe disease, and a systematic understanding of the clinical manifestations, imaging features and pathological changes of nervous system injury in Pompe disease is of great significance for the early identification and intervention of Pompe disease. This article reviews the research progress of neurological damage in Pompe disease.

Corrigendum to "Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Attenuate Adipose Inflammation in Obesity through Adipocyte Browning and Polarization of M2 Macrophages".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2019/1731540.].

Effects of moisture content on the enolization products formation in glucose-proline Maillard reaction models.

BACKGROUND: 2,3-Dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4(H)-pyran-4-one (DDMP) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) are two main enolization products in the Maillard reaction and found in some foodstuffs. For many years, whether they are functional or noxious to human health has been a matter of debate. Thus, insight into their formation pathways is important to manage Maillard reaction products. In this study, DDMP and HMF were quantified and compared with regard to their formation and degradation in the d-glucose and l-proline Maillard reaction models using different moisture contents (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 4.0 mL) at 150 °C for various heating times. RESULTS: DDMP was predominantly generated in dry or low water-content heating models along with n increased 1-deoxyglucosone (1-DG) generation via 2,3-enolization. However, increasing moisture content resulted in a decay of reaction intensity, 1-DG, and DDMP due to a change in the reaction mechanism from 2,3-enolization to 1,2-enolization, which facilitated 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG) and HMF formation. CONCLUSION: Increased moisture content in glucose-proline models reduced reaction intensity and also inhibited DDMP and facilitated HMF formation by promoting the pathway change from 2,3-enolization to 1,2-enolization to generate more 3-DG. A water content of 1.0 mL was identified as a critical value, from which the 1,2-enolization became a primary pathway occurring in the Maillard reaction. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Systematic profiling of alternative splicing signature reveals prognostic predictor for cervical cancer.

AIM: Cervical cancer is a common malignant carcinoma of the gynecological tract with high morbidity and mortality. Therefore, it is crucial to elucidate the pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer by searching for the involved key genes. METHOD: In this study, the alternative splicing (AS) events of 253 patients with cervical cancer were analyzed, and 41,766 AS events were detected in 9961 genes. Univariate analysis was performed to screen prognostic AS events. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis was used to identify the pathways in which these AS events were involved. RESULTS: We found that exon skip (ES) is the main AS event in patients with cervical cancer. There was pronounced consistency between the genes involved in overall survival and those involved in recurrence. At the same time, we found that a gene may exhibit several different types of AS events, and these different AS events may be related to prognosis. Four characteristic genes, HSPA14, SDHAF2, CAMKK2 and TM9SF1, that can be used as prognostic markers for cervical cancer were selected. CONCLUSION: The importance of AS events in the development of cervical cancer and prediction of prognosis was revealed by a large amount of data at the whole genome level, which may provide a potential target for cervical cancer treatment. We also provide a new method for exploring the pathogenesis of cervical cancer to determine clinical treatment and prognosis more accurately.

A Prospective Study to Compare Analgesia from Femoral Obturator Nerve Block with Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block for Acute Preoperative Pain in Elderly Patients with Hip Fracture.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to compare femoral obturator nerve block (FONB) with fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) in the management of acute preoperative pain in elderly patients with hip fracture. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients ≥65 years (n=154) diagnosed with hip fracture who had surgery within 48 hours of hospital admission included two groups who received ultrasound-guided nerve block, the FONB group (n=77), and the FICB group (n=77). The visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain, requirement for analgesic drugs, nursing care requirements after hospitalization, post-operative complications, and rehabilitation were compared between the FONB and FICB patient groups. RESULTS The VAS scores after both nerve block procedures were significantly reduced compared with those before both nerve block procedures (P<0.05), but there were no differences on the second day after nerve block. The VAS scores at rest and on exercise in the FONB group were significantly lower than those in the FICB group at 30 min and one day after nerve block (P<0.05). The requirement for postoperative analgesic drugs in the FONB group was significantly lower than that in the FICB group (P=0.048). The incidence of nausea and vertigo in the FICB group were significantly higher than in the FONB group (P=0.031 and P=0.034, respectively). Patients in the FONB group experienced significantly improved quality of postoperative function (P=0.029). CONCLUSIONS Both FONB and FICB provided pain control for elderly patients with hip fracture. However, compared with FICB, FONB resulted in significantly improved analgesia with a reduced requirement for analgesic drugs.

Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Attenuate Adipose Inflammation in Obesity through Adipocyte Browning and Polarization of M2 Macrophages.

Obesity is a metabolic condition associated with multiple health problems such as endocrine and metabolic dysfunction and chronic inflammation in adipose tissues. In this study, the ADSCs could be stimulated to differentiate into brown adipocyte with rosiglitazone treatment based on the Oil-Red-O staining trial. Furthermore, the multilocular lipid droplets located in the center was increased in differentiated brown adipocytes, and brown fat-associated proteins, UCP1, PPAR-γ, and LPL were highly expressed in brown adipocytes differentiated from ADSCs. Additionally, the results of animal experiments showed that both weight and amount of VLDL and LDL were decreased in the serum of obese mice after transplantation of rosiglitazone-induced brown adipocytes, while the level of HDL increased. Moreover, the proteins associated with lipid metabolism, LPA and UCP1, were downregulated, and the inflammatory response was suppressed through inhibition of the ITGAM/NF-κB-mediated proinflammatory responses and polarization of M2 macrophages. Similarly, the amounts of proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß were decreased after rosiglitazone-induced brown adipocyte transplantation. On the contrary, anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly increased in both groups of obese mice, with or without brown adipocyte transplantation. Therefore, the adipose-derived stromal cells with induced browning could promote lipid consumption and alternative polarization of M2 macrophages to attenuate adipose inflammation in obesity mouse models, which thus provides a potential therapy for obesity.

A Comparison of Different Training Methods in the Successful Learning of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration.

BACKGROUND: Standardized training of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS- TBNA) is available only in highly developed countries. OBJECTIVE: To compare the skill differences in the performance of EBUS-TBNA by pulmonologists trained under different learning methods. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 145 EBUS-TBNA cases. We set up 3 comparative training groups: a standardized training group, a teaching group, and a self-study group. The main clinical outcomes were sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EBUS-TBNA. Cumulative sum analysis was used to track EBUS-TBNA proficiency of the 3 groups. RESULTS: The sensitivities of EBUS-TBNA in the different groups were 90, 88, and 67%, respectively. The accuracies of the different groups were 91, 90, and 71%, respectively. With respect to the sensitivity and accuracy, there was no significant difference between the standardized training group and teaching group. However, the self-study group was inferior to the other 2 groups. By comparing the learning curve among the groups, we found that the minimum number of operations needed to reach a 90% accuracy for the standardized training group, the teaching group and the self-study group was 17, 32 and 40 cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared with the teaching and self-study groups, the standardized training group resulted in practitioners achieving high skill levels following the performance of a lower number of cases. Pulmonologists trained in the teaching group achieved a similar level of skills, but required more experience to reach this level. Practitioners in the self-study group did not achieve a satisfactory level of skills, despite performing a high number of cases.

Plasma levels of lysophosphatidic acid in ovarian cancer versus controls: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In this study, using a meta-analysis approach, we examined the correlation between serum levels of lysophosphastidic acid (LPA) and ovarian cancer (OC). METHODS: Relevant published studies were identified from multiple scientific literature databases by using a pre-determined electronic and manual search strategy. The search results were screened through a multi-step process to select high-quality case-control studies suitable for the present meta-analysis. Mean values and standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated for plasma LPA levels. Two investigators independently extracted the data from the studies and performed data analysis using STATA software version 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA). RESULTS: Nineteen case-control studies met our selection criteria and contained a total of 980 OC patients, 872 benign controls and 668 healthy controls. Our meta-analysis results revealed that the plasma levels of LPA in OC patients were significantly higher than benign controls (SMD = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.61-3.10, P < 0.001) and healthy controls (SMD = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.77-2.87, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed that the plasma LPA levels in OC patients were significantly higher than the benign controls only in Asian populations (SMD = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.79-3.25, P < 0.001). However, a comparison between healthy controls and OC patients revealed that, in both Asians and Caucasians, the OC patients displayed significantly higher plasma LPA levels compared to healthy controls (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis showed strong evidence that a significantly higher plasma LPA levels are present in OC patients, compared to benign controls and healthy controls, and plasma LPA levels may be used as a biomarker or target of OC.

Sleep disturbance and attempted suicide in rural China: a case-control study.

This study aimed to examine the association between sleep disturbance and attempted suicide in rural China. The study group included 409 suicide attempters from six rural counties in Shandong Province, China and an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, and residency. Sleep disturbance was assessed by the item "sleep restless" in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Sleep disturbance was reported more frequently in suicide attempters than in controls (1-2 days/week, 9.0% vs. 4.4%; 3-4 days/week, 11.5% vs. 2.4%; ≥5 days/week, 30.3% vs. 7.5%, χ 2= 128.72, p < 0.001). Suicide risk was significantly associated with increased frequency of sleep disturbance (OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 1.62-9.74 for 1-2 days/week; OR = 3.28, 95% CI = 1.21-8.84 for 3-4 days/week; OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.26-4.60 for ≥5 days/week) even after adjusting for potential psychosocial confounding factors and mental disorders. This finding may have important implications for early intervention and prevention of suicide.

Beck Hopelessness Scale: Psychometric Properties Among Rural Chinese Suicide Attempters and Non-Attempters.

The authors recruited 401 suicide attempters from general hospitals and 409 matched non-attempters to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in rural China. All participants completed the BHS, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI). Suicide attempters had higher BHS scores than non-attempters. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were satisfactory and BHS scores significantly correlated to CES-D and TAI scores. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor model for suicide attempters and a five-factor model for non-attempters. The BHS is satisfactory in assessing hopelessness among suicide attempters in rural China.

Meta-analysis: diagnostic accuracy of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide 2 antibody and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide 3 antibody in rheumatoid arthritis.

The aim of this work was to assess the diagnostic value of anti-CCP-3 and anti-CCP-2 for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and determine whether anti-CCP-3 more accurately identifies patients with rheumatoid arthritis than anti-CCP-2. PubMed and CNKI databases were searched for studies published in English and Chinese that examined the use of anti-CCP-3 and anti-CCP-2 in the diagnosis of known or suspected rheumatoid arthritis from January 2006 to July 2013. Seventeen included studies of methodological quality were rated by using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) tools A random-effects method was used to summarize sensitivities, specificities, positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR-, respectively), and diagnostic odds ratio from 17 studies. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, LR+, LR- and diagnostic odds ratio for anti-CCP-3 were 0.737 (95% CI, 0.717-0.757), 0.933 (95% CI, 0.924-0.942), 11.096 (95% CI, 8.876-13.870), 0.274 (95% CI, 0.231-0.326), and 42.908 (95% CI, 33.828-54.426), respectively. For anti-CCP-2, the values were 0.719 (95% CI, 0.699-0.739), 0.960 (95% CI, 0.953-0.966), 17.485 (95% CI, 11.960-25.562), 0.294 (95% CI, 0.258-0.335) and 63.458 (95% CI, 44.214-91.078), respectively. With high specificity and moderate sensitivity, anti-CCP-2 and anti-CCP-3 played an important role in confirming the diagnosis of RA. Anti-CCP-3 did not have better diagnostic performances than anti-CCP-2, but anti-CCP-2 had evident heterogeneity compared to anti-CCP-3, especially in American patients.

The biomarkers associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human keloids.

INTRODUCTION: A keloid is a type of benign fibrotic disease with similar features to malignancies, including anti-apoptosis, over-proliferation, and invasion. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial mechanism that regulates the metastatic behavior of tumors. Thus, identifying EMT biomarkers is paramount in comprehensively understanding keloid pathogenesis. METHODS: To identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) GSE92566 dataset, with 3 normal skin and 4 keloid tissues, was downloaded from GEO databases to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Further, EMT-related genes were downloaded from dbEMT 2.0 databases and intersected with GSE92566 DEGs to identify EMT-related-DEGs (ERDEGs). Subsequently, the ERDEGs were used for GO, KEGG, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), protein-protein interaction (PPI), and miRNAs-mRNAs network analysis. To predict small molecules for EMT inhibition, the ERDEGs were imported to cMAP databases, whereas hub genes were imported to DGidb databases. Finally, we carried out qRT-PCR and in vitro experiments to validate our findings. RESULTS: A total of 122 ERDEGs were identified, including 59 upregulated and 63 down-regulated genes. Moreover, enrichment analysis revealed that focal adhesion, AMPK signal pathway, Wnt signal pathway, and EMT biological process were significantly enriched. STRING databases and Cytoscape software were used to construct the PPI network and EMT-related hub genes. Further, 3 modules were explored from the PPI network using the Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) plugin. In the Cytohubba plugin, 10 hub genes were explored, including FN1, EGF, SOX9, CDH2, PROM1, EPCAM, KRT19, ITGB1, CD24, and KRT18. These genes were then enriched for the focal adhesion pathway. We constructed a microRNA (miRNA)-mRNA network, which predicted hsa-miR-155-5p (8 edges), hsa-miR-124-3p (7 edges), hsa-miR-145-5p (5 edges), hsa-miR-20a-5p (5 edges) and hsa-let-7b-5p (4 edges) as the most connected miRNAs regulating EMT. Based on the ERDEGs and 10 hub genes mentioned above, ribavirin demonstrated high drug-targeting relevance. Subsequently, qRT-PCR confirmed that the expression of FN1, ITGB1, CDH2, and EPCAM corroborated with previous findings. qRT-PCR also showed that the expression levels of hsa-miR-124-3p and hsa-miR-145-5p were significantly lower in keloids and hsa-miR-155-5p was upregulated in keloids. Finally, by treating human keloid fibroblasts (HKFs) with ribavirin in vitro, we confirmed that ribavirin could inhibit HKFs proliferation and EMT. CONCLUSION: In summary, this work provides novel EMT biomarkers in keloids and predicts new small target molecules for keloid therapy. Our findings improve the understanding of keloid pathogenesis, providing new treatment options.

Splenectomy does not affect mouse behaviors.

The spleen is critical for immunity. It is the largest immune organ and immune center in the peripheral system. While the relationship between behavior and immunity has been demonstrated in physiology and diseases, the role of the spleen in behavior is not clear. To investigate the effects of the spleen on behaviors, we performed a refined splenectomy procedure on C57BL/6J mice and performed an open field test, circadian rhythm test, elevated plus maze, sucrose preference test, and Barnes maze test. Splenectomy did not induce changes in general locomotion, circadian rhythms, learning and memory, or depression/anxiety-related behaviors. To further investigate the effects of spleen on stress susceptibility, we established mouse models of depression through chronic unpredictable mild stress. The behavioral performances of mice subjected to splenectomy showed no differences from control animals. These findings suggest that splenectomy does not cause changes in baseline behavioral performance in mice.

Role of HIF-1α in pathogenic mechanisms of keloids.

BACKGROUDS AND OBJECTIVE: Keloids are defined as overrepairing products that develop after skin lesions. Keloids are characterized by the proliferation of fibroblasts and the overaccumulation of extracellular matrix components (mainly collagen), leading to a locally hypoxic microenvironment. Hence, this article was aimed to review hypoxia in pathogenesis of keloids. METHODS: We reviewed and summarized the relevant published studies. RESULTS: Hypoxia results in the accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) in keloids, contributing to overactivation of the fibrotic signaling pathway, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and changes in metabolism, eventually leading to aggravated fibrosis, infiltrative growth, and radiotherapy resistance. CONCLUSION: It is, therefore, essential to understand the role of HIF-1α in the pathogenic mechanisms of keloids in order to develop new therapeutic approaches.

[Herbal-moxa plaster for diarrhea type irritable bowel syndrome of spleen and kidney yang deficiency: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy between herbal-moxa plaster and moxa-box moxibustion for diarrhea type irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) of spleen and kidney yang deficiency. METHODS: Eighty patients with IBS-D of spleen and kidney yang deficiency were randomly divided into a herbal-moxa plaster group and a moxa-box moxibustion group, 40 cases in each group. The patients in the two groups were treated with conventional acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Yintang (GV 24+), Zhongwan (CV 12) and bilateral Tianshu (ST 25), Yinlingquan (SP 9), and Taixi (KI 3), etc. In addition, the patients in the herbal-moxa plaster group were treated with herbal-moxa plaster (Wenyang Fuzheng ointment, composed of prepared monkshood, prepared evodia rutaecarpa, dried ginger, cinnamon, etc.) at Shenque (CV 8), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zhongwan (CV 12) and bilateral Tianshu (ST 25), Shenshu (BL 23) and Shangjuxu (ST 37); the patients in the moxa-box moxibustion group were treated with moxa-box moxibustion at the same acupoints as the herbal-moxa plaster group. The acupuncture-moxibustion treatment was provided once every other day for 4 weeks (14 treatments). Before and after treatment, the scores of clinical symptom of TCM, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) and IBS quality of life scale (IBS-QOL) were compared between the two groups, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: Compared with those before treatment, each item scores and total scores of clinical symptom of TCM, and IBS-SSS scores in the two groups were reduced after treatment (P<0.05). The abdominal bloating score, stool frequency score and total score of clinical symptom of TCM as well as IBS-SSS score in the herbal-moxa plaster group were lower than those in the moxa-box moxibustion group (P<0.05). Compared with those before treatment, the IBS-QOL scores in the two groups were increased after treatment (P<0.05), and the IBS-QOL score in the herbal-moxa plaster group was higher than that in the moxa-box moxibustion group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 92.5% (37/40) in the herbal-moxa plaster group, which was higher than 85.0% (34/40) in the moxa-box moxibustion group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: On the basis of conventional acupuncture treatment, herbal-moxa plaster could effectively improve the clinical symptoms and quality of life in IBS-D patients of spleen and kidney yang deficiency, and its efficacy is superior to that of moxa-box moxibustion.

Relationship between ß1-AA and AT1-AA and Cardiac Function in Patients with Hypertension Complicated with Left Ventricular Diastolic Function Limitation.

Objective: To investigate the association between ß1 adrenergic receptor autoantibodies (ß1-AA) and angiotensin II type-1 receptor autoantibodies (AT1-AA) and cardiac function in patients with hypertension complicated with left ventricular diastolic function limitation. Methods: A total of 120 patients with essential hypertension who were not taking drug treatment and were hospitalised in the Department of Cardiology at the authors' hospital from April 2018 to December 2018 were enrolled in this study and divided into a diastolic dysfunction group (65 cases) and a normal diastolic group (55 cases) according to their left ventricular diastolic function. The levels of cardiac parameters, ß1-AA, AT1-AA, and other indicators were compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the related factors affecting left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). The diagnostic efficacy of related factors in the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction was evaluated. Results: Univariate analysis demonstrated that the left ventricular posterior wall diameter (10.29 ± 1.23 vs. 9.12 ± 1.53), left ventricular systolic dysfunction (10.56 ± 1.37 vs. 9.43 ± 1.44), systolic blood pressure (152.37 ± 10.24 vs. 140.33 ± 5.99), diastolic blood pressure (95.66 ± 6.34 vs. 87.33 ± 7.28), ß1-AA (33 vs. 9 cases), and AT1-AA (35 cases vs. 12 cases) were higher in the dysfunction group than in the control group (all P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that ß1-AA (odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.369-4.345) and AT1-AA (OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.332-6.720) were independent risk factors for cardiac diastolic dysfunction (P < 0.05). Both autoimmune antibodies had a certain predictive value, and the combined prediction value of the two was the highest, with an area under the curve of 0.942 (95% CI: 0.881~0.985). Conclusion: The positive rate of ß1-AA and AT1-AA in essential hypertension patients with LVDD was higher than that in the normal group. Both ß1-AA and AT1-AA could be used as early markers of LVDD in essential hypertension patients.

A comparison of proliferation levels in normal skin, physiological scar and keloid tissue.

Proliferation is an important characteristic of life, and many signaling pathways participate in this complicated process. The MAPK/Erk pathway is a classic pathway in cell proliferation. In this study, expression levels of key factors in the MAPK/Erk pathway were measured to assess the proliferation level among normal skin, physiological scar, and keloid tissue. Thirty patients were selected randomly from the Department of Plastic Surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020. Histological appearance and fiber tissue content were observed by Hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson staining. Expression levels of key factors in the MAPK/Erk pathway (ATF2, c-Jun, c-Myc, p38 and STAT1) and relative proteins (HIF-1α and PCNA) in tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry and analyzed as the percentage of positively stained cells in both the tissue epidermis and dermis. Western blot was used for quantitative analysis of the above factors. In results, keloid tissue showed a significantly higher fiber and less cell content. In the immunohistochemical result, higher expression of key factors was observed in the epidermis than in the dermal layer, and the expression of all factors was increased remarkably in keloid tissue. In western blot analysis, all factors (except STAT1) showed higher expression in keloid tissue. In our former research, keloid showed similar apoptosis level as physiological scar and normal skin. On combining our former conclusion and results in this study, an imbalance condition between the high proliferation level and normal apoptosis level may lead to the growth characteristics of keloid.

A new photodynamic therapy photosensitizer (p1) promotes apoptosis of keloid fibroblasts by targeting caspase-8.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new therapy for treating cancer with less toxicity, high selectivity, good cooperativity, and repetitive usability. However, keloid treatment by PDT is mainly focused on clinical appearance, and few studies have been conducted on the mechanisms of PDT. In this study, key factors of the classical mitochondrial apoptosis signaling pathway were measured to assess the effect of a new PDT photosensitizer (p1). A specific inhibitor of caspase-8 (Z-IETD-FMK) was also used to verify the possible mechanisms. Twelve samples were obtained from 12 patients (six with keloids and six without) selected randomly from the Department of Plastic Surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January to December 2020. After cell culture, fibroblasts were divided into 13 groups. The morphology of fibroblasts in each group was observed by microscopy. Cell activity was measured by cell counting kit-8, and cell apoptotic morphology was observed by TUNEL staining. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) relative value was measured by a ROS test kit. The expression levels of key mitochondrial factors (caspase-3, caspase-8, cytochrome-c, Bax, and Bcl-2) were assessed by western blot, and mRNA expression of caspase-3 and caspase-8 was measured by RT-qPCR. We showed that p1 had a satisfactory proapoptotic effect on keloid fibroblasts by increasing the expression of ROS, caspase-3, caspase-8, and cytochrome-c, and decreasing the Bcl-2/Bax ratio; however, this effect was partially inhibited by Z-IETD-FMK, indicating that caspase-8 may be one of the p1's targets to achieve the proapoptotic effect.

Comparison of stereotactic aspiration surgery and conventional treatment for primary brainstem haemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of stereotactic aspiration surgery and conventional treatment for primary brainstem haemorrhage. METHODS: The clinical data of 137 patients with primary brain stem haemorrhage (haematoma volume > 3 ml) from August 2014 to August 2022 at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University were reviewed. Sixty-five patients were treated with stereotactic haematoma aspiration, and 72 patients were treated with conventional therapy. We followed up on patient survival after 30 days and the recovery of neurological function after 90 days. The recovery of neurological function was evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 90 days after treatment. The mortality and neurological recovery rates of the two treatments were compared and analysed. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the 30-day mortality rate between the two treatment groups (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference in neurological function improvement after 90 days between the two treatment groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between stereotactic aspiration and routine treatment in the prognosis of primary brainstem haemorrhage patients at 90 days after treatment (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Stereotactic aspiration surgery for primary brain stem haemorrhage can significantly reduce mortality and improve the neurological function of some patients.

The optimal extent of lymph node dissection in N1b papillary thyroid microcarcinoma based on clinicopathological factors and preoperative ultrasonography.

Background: The optimal extent of lymph node (LN) dissection in the management of N1b papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is still under debate in clinical practice, so we aimed to identify the risk factors associated with multilevel lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM) with regard to the extent of LN dissection. Methods: The clinical data of 182 N1b PTMC patients between January 2019 and June 2021 at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The frequency pattern and distribution of LLNM were analyzed for risk factors. We assessed the diagnostic value of preoperative ultrasonography (USG) for identifying levels II-V metastasis in PTMC patients. Results: The proportion of multilevel LLNM in N1b PTMC was 72.1%, and the most common pattern was metastasis at two levels (41.2%). Capsule invasion [odds ratio (OR) =6.861, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.462-32.190, P=0.015], upper pole [OR =2.125, 95% CI: 1.010-4.473, P=0.047], central LN ratio [OR =7.315, 95% CI: 1.309-40.877, P=0.023], thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >1.5 mIU/mL [OR =2.773, 95% CI: 1.269-6.060, P=0.011], and extranodal extension (ENE) [OR =2.632, 95% CI: 1.207-5.739, P=0.015] were independent risk factors for multilevel metastasis. In addition, unltrasonography had high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of metastasis at level V (75.0%, 78.4%) and multilevel LLNM (67.2%, 64.8%). Conclusions: Modified radical neck dissection (MRND) in N1b PTMC patients may be reserved for patients with simultaneous 3-level LLNM or clinically evident metastasis at level V. Preoperative USG may have certain suggestive significance in the diagnosis of multilevel LLNM in primary PTMC.