Efficacy comparison of monotherapies and combination therapies for androgenetic alopecia: A Bayesian network meta-analysis.

Even though a variety of treatments for androgenetic alopecia (AGA) currently have been using in clinical, satisfactory therapeutic methods are still lacking. We aimed to compare and rank these treatments for AGA according to their differences in efficacy via Bayesian network meta-analysis, suggesting the optimal therapy for clinical utility to refer. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library database was performed and we included eligible randomized controlled trials. We compared differences in treatment effects of monotherapies and combination therapies using the Bayesian network model. The average difference in alteration from baseline of hair density and hair diameter, and variation value (mean ± SD) between the pre- and post-intervention was selected for main outcome measure and secondary outcome measure. Total 49 RCTs involving 3133 patients and six interventions were included. Regardless of based on hair density or hair diameter, topical/systemic combined with adjunctive therapeutics had the best treatment efficacy among all interventions (MD: 40.11; 95% CrI 25.65-54.59), followed by topical combined with systemic medical therapeutics (MD: 36.41; 95% CrI 17.54-55.24). In addition, in terms of hair density, treatment efficacy had significant difference sequentially among topical medical therapeutics (MD: 22.15; 95% CrI 12.88-31.42), systemic medical therapeutics (MD: 19.91; 95% CrI 6.504-33.22), and adjunctive therapeutics (MD: 18.60; 95% CrI 8.020-29.10) compared to placebo. In recent years, combination therapies are showing significant promise as potential therapies. Taken together with the outcomes of this study, despite the specific mechanism of the effect of combination therapies was not clear and further studies are needed, it may be the best treatment for AGA.

Two Distinctly Separated Emission Colorimetric NIR Fluorescent Probe for Fast Hydrazine Detection in Living Cells and Mice upon Independent Excitations.

Hydrazine is carcinogenic and highly toxic so that it can lead to serious environmental contamination and serious health risks although it has been extensively used as an effective propellant and an important reactive base in industry. Thus, the development of two-emission NIR fluorescent probes for rapid detection of hydrazine with high selectivity and sensitivity is of significance and of great challenge in both biological and environmental sciences. Here, we report a two-emission colorimetric fluorescent probe for the specific detection of hydrazine based on hydrazinolysis reaction under physiological conditions. In the presence of hydrazine, the probe showed an extremely remarkable fluorescence enhancement at 627 nm compared to the decrease at 814 nm excited at different wavelength in aqueous solution. This distinct difference of two emission intensities is suitable for detection of low concentration hydrazine with a detection limit of 0.38 ppb. Addition of hydrazine resulted in a remarkable color change from blue-green to red observed by the naked eye. Kinetic study indicated a fast response of the probe toward hydrazine in minutes. Furthermore, the probe can bioimage hydrazine in living HeLa cells and mice with low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility.

Review of the genus Karschia Walter, 1889 from Xizang, China (Solifugae, Karschiidae).

The species of the genus Karschia Walter, 1889, collected from Xizang, China, were reviewed. A total of six species were recognized using morphological and molecular data, Karschia (Karschia) tibetana Hirst, 1907 is redescribed based on newly collected males and females, and five new species, Karschia (Karschia) dingyesp. nov., Karschia (Karschia) lhasasp. nov., Karschia (Karschia) zhuisp. nov., Karschia (Karschia) shigatsesp. nov., and Karschia (Karschia) namlingsp. nov., are described.

Use of MRI Radiomics Models in Evaluating the Low HER2 Expression in Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics models in evaluating the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2) expression in breast cancer.

Materials and Methods: The MRI data of 161 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (non-special type) of breast cancer were retrospectively collected, and the MRI radiomics models were established based on the MRI imaging features of the fat suppression T2 weighted image (T2WI) sequence, dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-T1WIsequence and joint sequences. The T-test and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm were used for feature dimensionality reduction and screening, respectively, and the random forest (RF) algorithm was used to construct the classification model.

Results: The model established by the LASSO-RF algorithm was used in the ROC curve analysis. In predicting the low expression state of HER2 in breast cancer, the radiomics models of the fat suppression T2WI sequence, DCE-T1WI sequence, and the combination of the two sequences showed better predictive efficiency. In the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the verification set of low, negative, and positive HER2 expression, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) value was 0.81, 0.72, and 0.62 for the DCE-T1WI sequence model, 0.79, 0.65 and 0.77 for the T2WI sequence model, and 0.84, 0.73 and 0.66 for the joint sequence model, respectively. The joint sequence model had the highest AUC value.

Conclusions: The MRI radiomics models can be used to effectively predict the HER2 expression in breast cancer and provide a non-invasive and early assistant method for clinicians to formulate individualized and accurate treatment plans.

Transarterial Chemoembolization Combined with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Plus Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Versus Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Plus Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma with First- or Lower-Order Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) plus immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (TACE-TKI-ICI) versus TKIs plus ICIs (TKI-ICI) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with first- or lower-order portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in HCC patients with first- or lower-order PVTT receiving TKIs (Lenvatinib or sorafenib) plus ICIs (camrelizumab, sintilimab, or atezolizumab) with or without TACE from four institutions between January 2019 and January 2022. Propensity score-based method was performed to minimize bias by confounding factors. Tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs) were evaluated and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After inverse probability of treatment weighting, two balanced pseudopopulations were created: 106 patients in the TACE-TKI-ICI group and 109 patients in the TKI-ICI group. The objective response rate was higher in the TACE-TKI-ICI group (50.9% vs. 28.4%, P < 0.001). The median PFS and OS were significantly longer in the TACE-TKI-ICI group than in the TKI-ICI group (PFS: 9.1 vs. 5.0 months, P = 0.005; OS: 19.1 vs. 12.7 months, P = 0.002). In Cox regression, TACE-TKI-ICI treatment was an independent predictor of favorable OS. Treatment-related grade 3/4 AEs were comparable between the two groups (22.6% vs. 17.9%, P = 0.437). CONCLUSION: TACE-TKI-ICI therapy contributed to better tumor control, PFS and OS than TKI-ICI therapy in unresectable HCC patients with first- or lower-order PVTT.

Distal radial artery access is a safe and feasible technique in the anatomical snuffbox for visceral intervention.

Regarding the site of arterial access during the intervention, transracial intervention can reduce the risk of bleeding and vessel-related complications as well as improve patient comfort. Importantly, the distal radial artery (DRA) approach may reduce the incidence of radial artery occlusion and digital ischemia, but the feasibility and safety of DRA in performing subdiaphragmatic vascular interventions remain unclear. From January 2018 to December 2019, 106 patients were admitted to our department for visceral angiography and intervention by left distal radial artery accessing in an anatomical snuffbox. In total, 152 times of vascular interventions were performed during this period. Patients demographics, procedure details, technical success, and access site-related complications were recorded and evaluated. The mean age was 58.9 (range 22-86) years. Males accounted for 80.2%. Thirty-five patients (33%) had 2 or more procedures via the DRA approach. Technical success was achieved for 96.1% of procedures (146 cases) and 3.9% of cases failed to perform the intended procedure via the DRA approach (6 cases). The 4-Fr sheath was used in 86.8% of cases, and the 5 Fr sheath was used in the rest of the 13.2% of procedures. The rate of asymptomatic radial artery occlusion was 5.7% (6 of 106 patients). No patient suffered from distal limb ischemia after a long-time follow-up. Eight patients suffered postoperative local pain, transient numbness, or local bruised in the anatomical snuffbox without major complications. Patients with postoperative complications recovered quickly by using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or without further treatment. Left distal radial artery access is safe and feasible as a new technique for visceral angiography and intervention.

Emulsion Surimi Gel with Tunable Gel Properties and Improved Thermal Stability by Modulating Oil Types and Emulsification Degree.

High resistance to heating treatments is a prerequisite for ready-to-eat (RTE) surimi products. In this study, emulsion-formulated surimi gels were prepared, and the effects of oil types and emulsification degrees on the thermal stability of surimi gel were investigated. The results showed the gel properties of surimi gels were modulated by oil types and emulsification degrees. In detail, the rising pre-emulsification ratio caused the increase of the emulsifying activity index (EAI) and decrease of emulsifying stability index (ESI) for both emulsions. The larger droplet sizes of perilla seed oil than soybean oil may be responsible for their emulsifying stability difference. The gel strength, water retention, dynamic modulus and texture properties of both kinds of surimi gels displayed a firstly increased and then decreased tendency with the rising pre-emulsification ratios. The peak values were obtained as perilla seed oil emulsion with emulsification ratio of 20% group (P1) and soybean oil emulsion with emulsification ratio of 40% group (S2), respectively. Anyway, all emulsion gels showed higher thermal stability than the control group regardless of oil types. Similar curves were also obtained for the changes of hydrogen bond, ionic bond and hydrophobic interactions. Overall, perilla seed oil emulsion with emulsification ratio of 20% (P1 group) contributed to the improved thermal stability of surimi gels.

Efficacy of alpha hydroxy acid combined with intense pulsed light in the treatment of acne vulgaris: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acne patients frequently receive combination therapy. However, there has been no rigorous review of the efficacy of combining alpha hydroxy acid with IPL for acne vulgaris treatment. OBJECTIVE: Assessing the effectiveness and safeness of alpha hydroxy acids in combination with IPL in the treatment of people with acne vulgaris. METHODS: A computer search of common biomedical databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang, CNKI, SinoMed, and VIP, was extensively conducted to identify previous studies on randomized controlled trials of alpha hydroxy acid combined with IPL in the management of acne vulgaris. RESULTS: A total of 18 publications were included (1435 patients with common acne met the inclusion criteria). The meta-analysis showed that alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) combined with IPL had higher overall efficacy than the control group (OR = 4.24; 95% CI 2.66 ~ 6.74; p < 0.01). In the case of acne vulgaris, AHA combined with IPL and the AHA alone showed a remarkable difference in total efficiency (OR = 4.10; 95% CI 2.12 ~ 7.91; p < 0.01), and AHA combined with IPL were more effective than IPL alone (OR = 4.02; 95% CI 2.25 ~ 7.16; p < 0.01). In addition, the occurrence of adverse reactions that occurred in AHA combined with IPL and control groups did not differ (OR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.46 ~ 1.60; p = 0.64). CONCLUSION: AHA combined with IPL therapy was superior to other therapies. Although it was slightly more expensive, it was effective and had a wide range of applications.

Computed Tomography Radiomics-Based Prediction of Microvascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Due to the high recurrence rate in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after resection, preoperative prognostic prediction of HCC is important for appropriate patient management. Exploring and developing preoperative diagnostic methods has great clinical value in treating patients with HCC. This study sought to develop and evaluate a novel combined clinical predictive model based on standard triphasic computed tomography (CT) to discriminate microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The preoperative findings of 82 patients with HCC, including conventional clinical factors, CT imaging findings, and CT texture analysis (TA), were analyzed retrospectively. All included cases were divided into MVI-negative (n = 33; no MVI) and MVI-positive (n = 49; low or high risk of MVI) groups. TA parameters were extracted from non-enhanced, arterial, portal venous, and equilibrium phase images and subsequently calculated using the Artificial Intelligence Kit. After statistical analyses, a clinical model comprising conventional clinical and CT image risk factors, radiomics signature models, and a novel combined model (fused radiomic signature) was constructed. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to assess the performance of the various models in discriminating MVI. Results: We found that tumor diameter and pathological grade were effective clinical predictors in clinical model and 12 radiomics features were effective for MVI prediction of each CT phase. The AUCs of the clinical, plain, artery, venous, and delay models were 0.77 (95% CI: 0.67-0.88), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.64-0.87), 0.79 (95% CI: 0.69-0.89), 0.73 (95% CI: 0.61-0.85), and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.70-0.91), respectively. The novel combined model exhibited the best performance, with an AUC of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.74-0.93). Conclusions: Models derived from triphasic CT can preoperatively predict MVI in patients with HCC. Of the models tested here, the novel combined model was most predictive and could become a useful tool to guide subsequent personalized treatment of HCC.

Efficacy of docetaxel combined carboplatin for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A numerous published studies have reported that docetaxel combined carboplatin (DC) has been utilized for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, there are still contradictory results. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis will explore the efficacy and safety of DC for the treatment of patients with CRPC. METHODS: We will systematically and comprehensively search MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, WANGFANG, CBM, and CNKI from the beginning up to the March 1, 2020, regardless language and publication time. We will consider randomized controlled trials that evaluated the efficacy and safety of DC for the treatment of patients with CRPC. The treatment effects of all dichotomous data will be estimated as risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and that of continuous outcomes will be calculated as standardized mean difference or mean difference and 95% CIs. Methodological quality will be appraised by Cochrane risk of bias tool, and quality of evidence will be identified by Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation. Statistical analysis will be undertaken by RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: This study will systematically explore the efficacy and safety of DC for the treatment of patients with CRPC. CONCLUSION: This study may provide helpful evidence to determine whether DC is an effective treatment for patients with CRPC or not. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: INPLASY202040076.

Ultra-fast zinc ion detection in living cells and zebrafish by a light-up fluorescent probe.

As the second most abundant transition metal after iron in biological systems, Zn2+ takes part in various fundamental life processes such as cellular metabolism and apoptosis, neurotransmission. Thus, the development of analytical methods for fast detection of Zn2+ in biology and medicine has been attracting much attention but still remains a huge challenge. In this report, we develop a novel Zn2+-specific light-up fluorescent probe based on intramolecular charge transfer combined with chelation enhanced fluorescence induced by structural transformation. Addition of Zn2+ in vitro can induce a remarkable color change from colorless to green and a strong fluorescence enhancement with a red shift of 43 nm. Moreover, the probe shows an extremely low detection limit of 13 nM and ultra-fast response time of less than 1 s. The Zn2+ sensing mechanism was fully supported by TDDFT calculations as well as HRMS and 1H NMR titrations. The recognition of Zn2+ in living Hela cells as well as the MTT assay demonstrate that the probe can rapidly light-up detect Zn2+ in vivo with low cytotoxicity and good cell-permeability. Furthermore, the probe can also be successfully applied to bioimaging Zn2+ in living zebrafish.

A fast-response two-photon fluorescent probe for imaging endogenous H2O2 in living cells and tissues.

As a second messenger, hydrogen peroxide plays significant roles in numerous physiological and pathological processes and is related to various diseases including inflammatory disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. Two-photon (TP) fluorescent probes reported for the detection of endogenous H2O2 are rare and most have drawbacks such as slow response and low sensitivity. In this report, we demonstrate a simple H2O2-specific TP fluorescent probe (TX-HP) containing a two-photon dye 6-hydroxy-2,3,4,4a-tetrahydro-1H-xanthen-1-one (TX) on the modulation of the ICT process. The probe exhibits a rapid fluorescent response to H2O2 in 9min with both high sensitivity and selectivity. The probe can detect exogenous H2O2 in living cells. Furthermore, the probe is successfully utilized for imaging H2O2 in liver tissues.

Transarterial Chemoembolization Monotherapy Versus Combined Transarterial Chemoembolization-Microwave Ablation Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tumors ≤5 cm: A Propensity Analysis at a Single Center.

PURPOSE: To compare effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with microwave ablation (MWA; TACE-MWA) with TACE alone for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors ≤5 cm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed data of 244 patients treated for HCC by TACE-MWA or TACE from June 2014 to December 2015. Median follow-up period was 505 days (TACE-MWA group: 485 days; TACE group: 542 days). Patients were propensity score matched (1:2 ratio); outcomes of TACE-MWA and TACE groups were compared. Primary endpoints were tumor responses, including tumor necrosis rates after initial treatment, tumor responses at 6 months [per modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST)], and time to tumor progression (TTP). Secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and re-intervention times. RESULTS: After initial treatments, tumor necrosis rates were higher in the TACE-MWA group (n = 48; 92.1% [58/63]) than the TACE group (n = 96; 46.3% [56/121]; P < 0.001). At 6 months' follow-up, the TACE-MWA group had better tumor responses (CR + PR + SD [per mRECIST]: TACE-MWA, 95.8%; TACE, 64.5%; P < 0.001). The TACE-MWA group had better TTP (P < 0.001), but did not significantly differ in OS (P = 0.317). TACE-MWA decreased re-TACE times from 1.90 to 0.52; and re-MWA times from 0.22 to 0.17. In subgroup analysis, TACE-MWA also showed better TTP in patients with tumors ≤3 cm (P < 0.001) and 3-5 cm (P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with TACE, TACE-MWA leads to better responses for HCC tumors ≤5 cm.

A simple fluorescent probe for sensing cysteine over homocysteine and glutathione based on PET.

A big challenge is the discrimination of sulfhydryl-containing amino acids due to their structural similarity. We designed and synthesized a simple fluorescent probe 3 for specific detection of cysteine based on photo-induced electron transfer (PET). The acrylate and BODIPY moieties in probe 3 act as a reaction site and reporter group, respectively. So the synergistic effect of the substituent groups endows probe 3 very strong green fluorescence at 525nm (λex=500nm). The cleavage reaction induced by cysteine leads to acrylate hydrolysis, and thereby triggers PET on, which effectively quench the fluorescence of 3. Probe 3 exhibited a rapid response towards cysteine over homocysteine and glutathione. Probe 3 is successfully applied for sensing and imaging cysteine in vitro or in vivo cells with low cytotoxicity.