Cold tolerance and metabolism of red-haired pine bark beetle Hylurgus ligniperda (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) during the overwintering period.

Hylurgus ligniperda invaded Shandong, China, through imported forest timber, posing a threat to China's forest health. Exotic insects with broad environmental tolerance, including low temperatures, may have a better chance of surviving the winters and becoming invasive. Understanding the cold-tolerance strategies of H. ligniperda may help to design sustainable pest management approaches. In this study, we aim to investigate the cold-tolerance ability and relevant physiological indicators in overwintering H. ligniperda adults to determine any possible overwintering strategies. Supercooling points (SCPs) for adults H. ligniperda differed significantly across months and reached the lowest level in the mid- and post-overwintering period, the minimum SCPs -6.45 ±â€…0.18 °C. As the cold exposure temperature decreased, the survival rate of adults gradually decreased, and no adult survived more than 1 day at -15 °C, and the LLT50 for 1 day was -7.1 °C. Since H. ligniperda adults can survive internal ice formation, they are freeze-tolerant insects. Throughout the overwintering period, the SCPs and the water, protein, sorbitol, and glycerol content in adults decreased initially and then increased. We reported significant correlations between total protein, sorbitol, trehalose, and glycerol content in the beetles and SCPs. Glycogen, lipid, protein, trehalose, and sorbitol content in adult beetles may directly affect their cold-tolerance capacity and survival during winter. This study provides a physiological and biochemical basis for further study of metabolism and cold-tolerance strategies in H. ligniperda adults, which may help predict population dynamics and distribution potential of pests.

Pharmacological inhibition of Src family kinases attenuates hyperuricemic nephropathy.

Hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease and contributes to renal fibrosis. This study aims to investigate the effect of Src family kinase (SFK) inhibition on the development of hyperuricemic nephropathy (HN) and the mechanisms involved. In a rat model of HN, feeding rats a mixture of adenine and potassium oxonate increased Src phosphorylation, severe glomerular sclerosis, and renal interstitial fibrosis, accompanied by renal dysfunction and increased urine microalbumin excretion. Administration of PP1, a highly selective SFK inhibitor, prevented renal dysfunction, reduced urine microalbumin, and inhibited activation of renal interstitial fibroblasts and expression of extracellular proteins. PP1 treatment also inhibited hyperuricemia-induced activation of the TGF-ß1/Smad3, STAT3, ERK1/2, and NF-κB signaling pathways and expression of multiple profibrogenic cytokines/chemokines in the kidney. Furthermore, PP1 treatment significantly reduced serum uric acid levels and xanthine oxidase activity. Thus, blocking Src can attenuate development of HN via a mechanism associated with the suppression of TGF-ß1 signaling, inflammation, and uric acid production. The results suggest that Src inhibition might be a promising therapeutic strategy for HN.

Prognostic Significance of Advanced Age in Patients with T1a Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated by Microwave Ablation: A 16-Year Experience.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have failed to investigate the specific effects of advanced age on survival outcomes by considering the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and age permutation in patients with T1a renal cell carcinoma (T1a RCC) treated by microwave ablation (MWA). Notably, RCC guidelines recommended radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and active surveillance (AS) are both treatment options for elderly T1a RCC, but whether MWA is superior to AS in light of higher heating efficiency and larger ablation zone compared with RFA is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the specific effects of advanced age on survival outcomes of T1a RCC patients stratified by CCI score and indicate better intervention for elderly T1a RCC between MWA and AS. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. We retrospectively reviewed 237 patients with T1a RCC who had undergone MWA over the last 16 years. Data were analyzed by Cox regression and Landmark analysis. Interaction tests and propensity score matching were used to account for potential biases. We compared the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates of patients ≥75 years in our study with corresponding figures from 4251 counterparts undergoing AS in published articles. RESULTS: Using patients ＜75 years with a CCI ≤2 as a reference, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of OS for patients＜75 years with a CCI ≥3, patients ≥75 years with a CCI ≤2, and patients ≥75 years with CCI ≥3, were 2.954 (1.139-7.663), 3.48 (1.487-8.146), and 3.357 (1.162-9.698), respectively. The adverse effect of an age ≥75 years on OS was attenuated in patients with a CCI ≥3. The attenuation lasted for 62.5 months of follow-up (P = .017). Notably, advanced age exerted a protective effect on progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with a CCI ≥3, increasing the 8-year PFS from 67.8% to 100% (P = .049). Relative to 1-, 3-, 5-, and 8-year survival data for patients aged ≥75 undergoing AS, the OS rates for 5-year follow-up were always better in MWA. However, beyond 5 years, the OS rates dropped to levels that were similar to AS. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced age exerts adverse effects and significantly protective effects on OS and PFS, respectively, in T1a RCC patients with a CCI ≥ 3. According to our study, elderly patients with T1a RCC underwent radical MWA may yield a better medium-term OS relative to AS.

Prognostic Nutritional Index in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients With Hepatitis B Following US-Guided Percutaneous Microwave Ablation: A Retrospective Study With 1,047 Patients.

Objective: Several studies have revealed that the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) was associated with survival in several cancers. However, the prognostic value of PNI in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients following ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (US-PMWA) remains unknown, especially in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the potential prognostic value of PNI in these patients. Materials: The medical records of 1,047 HCC patients with HBV infection following US-PMWA were retrospectively reviewed. The association between preoperative PNI and overall survival (OS), as well as other clinical characteristics of HCC, were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier plot, log-rank test, multi-parameter Cox proportional hazards model, restricted cubic spline (RCS), and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Results: Patients with a preoperative PNI more than 45 were verified to have better OS than patients with a PNI less than 45. In the multi-parameter Cox proportional hazards models, the log-transformed PNI was verified as an independent prognostic factor for OS. The result of the RCS analysis revealed that there was a nearly linear relationship between PNI and OS. The area under the time-dependent ROC curve for PNI in predicting OS was 0.56, which is relatively stable. Conclusion: Preoperative PNI represents a convenient, noninvasive, and independent prognostic indicator in HCC patients with HBV infection following US-PMWA.

Physical & Chemical Microwave Ablation (MWA) Enabled by Nonionic MWA Nanosensitizers Repress Incomplete MWA-Arised Liver Tumor Recurrence.

Ionic liquid (IL)-loaded or metal ions-enriched nanoparticles have been witnessed to assist microwave ablation (MWA) and heighten heat utilization for tumor treatment, which, however, inevitably brings about cell dys-homeostasis and severely endangers normal cells or tissues. In this report, a nonionic MWA sensitizer that encapsulates ethyl formate (EF) and doxorubicin (DOX) in liposomes (EF-DOX-Lips) was constructed to reinforce MWA and combined therapy against incomplete MWA-induced tumor recurrence. EF in EF-DOX-Lips as the nonionic liquid can perform like IL to accelerate energy transformation from electromagnetic energy to heat for strengthening MWA. More significantly, EF metabolite, that is, ethanol, also enables chemical ablation, which further enhances MWA. As well, the EF gasification-enhanced lipid rupture and cavitation can promote DOX delivery into a liver tumor for magnifying MWA & chemotherapy combined therapy. By virtue of these contributions, this nonionic MWA nanosensitizer exerts robust antitumor effects to inhibit tumor proliferation and angiogenesis for repressing tumor growth and recurrence or metastasis via downregulating the Epha2 gene and unconventional PI3K/Akt & MAPK signal pathways that the incomplete MWA activated, which provides an avenue to elevate an MWA-based antitumor outcome.

Survival benefits analyses of T1a renal cell carcinoma patients treated with microwave ablation.

PURPOSE: The individual decision-making reference of Microwave ablation (MWA) for T1a RCC treatment is not clear, and it may not benefit all the patients equally. Therefore, we quantitatively evaluated the distinct survival benefits of patients with T1a RCC stratified by survival predictors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 237 patients with T1a RCC who underwent MWA over the last 16 years were retrospectively reviewed for survival benefit analysis. Cox proportional hazard models were used to control for the prognostic variables of OS, CSS, and PFS. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank analysis. Linear extrapolation was used to compute median survival periods. RESULTS: The OS benefit was significantly dependent on age (HR:2.499, 95% CI: 1.245-5.016, p = 0.010) and age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score (HR:3.956, 95% CI, 1.409-11.110, p = 0.009). OS in patients aged <75 years or with an age-adjusted CCI score <7 was significantly prolonged (44.68, 65.55 months) compared to OS in patients aged ≥75 years or with CCI score ≥7 (p < 0.001 for both). PFS benefit was significantly dependent on age-adjusted CCI (HR:3.325, 95% CI, 1.390-7.956, p = 0.007), patient type (HR:0.4, 95% CI, 0.214-0.745, p = 0.004), and tumour growth pattern (HR:12.562, 95% CI, 1.552-101.696, p = 0.018). PFS in incipient patients was significantly prolonged (33.75 months) compared to that in the relapsed patients (p = 0.037). Patients with an age-adjusted CCI score <7 or without tumour protruding into the renal pelvis, lived free from recurrence or metastasis (55.69 or 101.61 months) longer than that in patients with an age-adjusted CCI score ≥7 or with tumour protruding into the renal pelvis (p < 0.01 for both). None of the variables was associated with CSS benefit. CONCLUSIONS: The OS and PFS benefits from MWA were not equal for all T1a RCC patients. Age ≥75 years and age-adjusted CCI ≥ 7 significantly shortened OS. Age-adjusted CCI ≥ 7, relapsed RCC, and RCC protruding into the renal pelvis significantly shortened the PFS period. For a better survival prognosis, appropriate patient triage is still needed.

Symptomatic aseptic necrosis of benign thyroid lesions after microwave ablation: risk factors and clinical significance.

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic aseptic necrosis (SAN) followed by nodule rupture is a kind of severe complications after thermal ablation for benign thyroid nodules (BTN). No studies are available to evaluate its pathologic process, clinical manifestations, risk factors and effectiveness of therapies after microwave ablation (MWA). METHODS: From 2012 to 2019, 398 patients who received MWA for BTN were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical data included baseline patient characteristics, imaging features (internal vascularity and the proportion of the solid component), ablation power and time, complications and prognosis were collected and documented. RESULTS: Ten patients (2.51%) experienced post-MWA SAN, eight patients with nodule rupture and the other two without. The mean time from MWA to SAN symptom was 8.6 days and to rupture was 16.3 days. The initial symptoms of SAN patients were neck bulging, swelling and discomfort. Patients would go through nodule rupture once the nodule contents extended into the extrathyroidal area with the discontinuity of the anterior thyroid capsule, and fistula formed unavoidably in this condition. Incision drainage was effective for rupture and early treatment of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug might cure the early-stage SAN. Multivariate analysis showed sex (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.61; p=.03) was the risk factor leading to SAN and males were more vulnerable to SAN. CONCLUSION: SAN after MWA came earlier and initially illustrated as neck bulging, swelling and discomfort. Early detection and early treatment might prevent the rupture of nodules. Once the breakdown of thyroid capsule occurred, rupture of ablated nodules out of skin was unavoidable and invasive procedures might be the most effective treatment.

Acute kidney injury after nephron sparing surgery and microwave ablation: focus on incidence, survival impact and prediction.

Purpose: To compare acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence between nephron sparing surgery (NSS) and microwave ablation (MWA) for T1a RCC patients, reveal the effect of AKI on survival prognosis, construct AKI nomogram and use Law of Total Probability for survival probability (SP) prediction.Materials and methods: Patients were studied retrospectively after NSS (n = 1267) or MWA (n = 210) from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2017. Using one to one Propensity Score Matching (PSM), 158 pairs of patients were identified for the cohort study. AKI incidence, risk factors and impact on survival outcomes were analyzed using Chi-square test, logistic and cox regression analysis. AKI risk and SP were predicted by nomogram and Law of Total Probability. The performance of the nomogram was assessed with respect to its discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness.Results: AKI occurred more commonly in NSS (27.85%) cohort, when compared to MWA (17.72%) cohort (p = 0.032), but treatment modality was not independently predictive of AKI occurrence (odds ratio [OR]: 0.598; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.282-1.265; p = 0.178). The 5-yr overall survival (OS) was lower in AKI patients (73.5%) compared with non-AKI patients (94.8%; p < 0.001). AKI was an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in RCC patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.820; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.110-7.165; p = 0.029). Predictors for both NSS- and MWA-related AKI included tumor diameter, baseline eGFR and CCI score. RENAL score and tumor blood supply can predict AKI after NSS and MWA, respectively. The AKI normograms demonstrated good discrimination, with AUCs >0.86, excellent calibration and net benefits at the decision curve analysis with probabilities ≥5%. SP predicted by Law of Total Probability was comparable to actual OS.Conclusion: AKI was an early indicator for poor overall survival in RCC patients. It can be predicted by several oncological parameters. Nomogram and Law of Total Probability can accurately predict AKI risk and SP.