A Novel Endoscopic Approach for Treating Breast Cancer: Haigui-1 Hole.

OBJECTIVE: Endoscopic surgery is an effective technique for preserving the nipple and areola, as well as for sentinel lymph node biopsy and breast implant reconstruction. However, the technical challenges associated with endoscopic surgery have limited its widespread adoption. METHODS: In the normal single-port endoscopic surgery, the ultrasonic knife was accessed through the retractor. In our modified procedure, a tiny 5 mm incision was made at the lateral margin underneath the breast, serving as the second entry port for the ultrasonic scalpel, which was referred to as the "Haigui-1 hole". Preoperative and postoperative indicators such as blood loss, operative time, and postoperative drainage volume were collected. Differences between parameters were compared using Student's t test. RESULTS: Endoscopic surgery with the assistance of the "Haigui-1 hole" led to preserved breast aesthetics with minimal scarring. Moreover, "Haigui-1 hole" surgery significantly reduced the operation time, intraoperative bleeding, and postoperative drainage volume compared to normal single-port endoscopic surgery. CONCLUSION: The "Haigui-1 hole" procedure, which involves the addition of a second entrance to improve the maneuverability of the ultrasonic knife, is worthy of further promotion.

Effect of mastectomy on gut microbiota and its metabolites in patients with breast cancer.

Background: The relationship between gut microbiota and breast cancer has been extensively studied; however, changes in gut microbiota after breast cancer surgery are still largely unknown. Materials and methods: A total of 20 patients with breast cancer underwent routine open surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College from 1 June 2022 to 1 December 2022. Stool samples were collected from the patients undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer preoperatively, 3 days later, and 7 days later postoperatively. The stool samples were subjected to 16s rRNA sequencing. Results: Surgery did not affect the α-diversity of gut microbiota. The ß-diversity and composition of gut microorganisms were significantly affected by surgery in breast cancer patients. Both linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis and between-group differences analysis showed that surgery led to a decrease in the abundance of Firmicutes and Lachnospiraceae and an increase in the abundance of Proteobacteria and Enterobacteriaceae. Moreover, 127 differential metabolites were screened and classified into 5 categories based on their changing trends. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed significant changes in the phenylalanine metabolic pathway and exogenous substance metabolic pathway. Eight characterized metabolites were screened using ROC analysis. Conclusion: Our study found that breast cancer surgery significantly altered gut microbiota composition and metabolites, with a decrease in beneficial bacteria and an increase in potentially harmful bacteria. This underscores the importance of enhanced postoperative management to optimize gut microbiota.

Chronically socially isolated mice exhibit depressive-like behavior regulated by the gut microbiota.

Objectives: Chronic loneliness is a widespread issue, and the gut-brain axis is known to be crucial in facilitating communication between the gut and brain. However, the precise mechanism by which chronic loneliness affects the gut-brain axis remains uncertain. Methods: Fourteen 55-week-old Balb/c mice were used in the experiment, with seven mice being randomly assigned to the chronic social isolation (CSI) group. The CSI group mice underwent 12 weeks of isolation to simulate the psychiatric state of a population in prolonged social isolation. The mental state of the CSI mice was assessed through animal behavior analysis, while plasma cytokines were measured using ELISA. Additionally, the composition of the gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and the metabolite composition of the intestinal contents was examined using nontargeted metabolomics. The Student-T test was used to determine significant mean differences. Results: Mice that were exposed to the CSI exhibited increased immobility time lengths in forced swimming and hanging tail experiments, and decreased movement lengths and number of times traversing the intermediate region, compared to control mice. Additionally, CSI decreased the abundance of the probiotics Ruminococcaceae, Akkermansiaceae, and Christensenellaceae. Additionally, CSI reduced the production of the metabolites oleamide and tryptophan. Furthermore, IL-1ß, IL-4, and IL-6 were significantly increased, while TNF-α was significantly decreased. Conclusion: CSI induces a dysbiotic gut microbiota and the production of neurorelated metabolites, which in turn increase inflammatory responses and result in depressive behaviors in CSI mice. Therefore, these findings suggest that the gut microbiota may serve as a target for the treatment of long-term social isolation-induced mental disorders.

Prevalence of depression in junior and senior adolescents.

Background: Depression affects the development of adolescents and makes it difficult for them to adapt to future life. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the population characteristics of adolescent depression. Methods: This study measured depression based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items and sociodemographic questionnaire. A total of 8,235 valid questionnaires were collected from six schools in Haikou and Qionghai, Hainan Province, covering the ages of 13 to 18. The questionnaires included high schools with multiple levels, including general high schools, key high schools, and vocational high schools. Latent category analysis (LCA) was used to identify potential categories of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used for determining depressive symptom latent categories and their proportional distribution among adolescents. Results: LCA analysis divided the data into 3 categories, namely no depression, low depression, and high depression groups. The percentage of the high depression group was 10.1%, and that of the low depression group was 48.4%. The Jorden index was greatest for a PHQ-9 score of 14.5. The 1st grade of junior middle school students entered the high and low depression groups 1.72 and 1.33 times more often than seniors. The number of the 1st grade of high school students included in the high and low depression groups was 1.55 and 1.42 times of the 3rd grade of high school students group. The detection rate of the high depression group of vocational school adolescents was 13.5%, which was significantly higher than that of key high schools (9.6%) and general high schools (9.0%). Conclusion: This study found that 1st grade of junior middle school students and the 1st grade of high school students were more likely to fall into depressive conditions. Moreover, Adolescent girls require more attention than boys. Vocational school students need more psychological guidance.

Microbial community, pathogenic bacteria and high-risk anti-biotic resistance genes at two tropical coastal beaches adjacent to villages in Hainan, China.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore the correlation between characteristics of microbial community, pathogenic bacteria and high-risk antibiotic-resistant genes, between coastal beaches and a multi-warm-blooded host, as well as to determine potential species biomarkers for faecal source contamination on tropical coastal beaches in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The 'One-Health' approach was used in a microbiological study of beaches and warm-blooded hosts. The microbial.community was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicons and shotgun metagenomics on Illumina NovaSeq. RESULTS: The Chao, Simpson, Shannon, and ACE indices of non-salt beach were greater than those of salt beaches at the genus and OTU levels (P < 0.001). Bacteroidota, Halanaerobiaeota, Cyanobacteria, and Firmicutes were abundant on salt beaches (P<0.01). Human-sourced microorganisms were more abundant on salt beaches, which accounted for 0.57%. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Eubacterium hallii were considered as reliable indicators for the contamination of human faeces. High-risk carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and the genotypes KPC-14 and KPC-24 were observed on salt beaches. Tet(X3)/tet(X4) genes and four types of MCR genes co-occurred on beaches and humans; MCR9.1 accounted for the majority. Tet(X4) found among Cyanobacteria. Although rarely reported at Chinese beaches, pathogens, such as Vibrio vulnificus, Legionella pneumophila, and Helicobacter pylori, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The low microbial community diversity, however, did not indicate a reduced risk. The transfer of high-risk ARGs to extreme coastal environments should be given sufficient attention.

Intestinal transcriptional profiling reveals fava bean-induced immune response in DBA/1 mice

BACKGROUND: Fava beans (FBs) have long been used as food, and their principal disadvantage is derived from their haemotoxicity. We hypothesized that FB ingestion alters the intestinal gene expression pattern, thereby inducing an immune response. RESULTS: In-depth sequence analysis identified 769 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the intestine in FB-treated DBA/1 mouse intestines. The identified genes were shown to be associated with biological processes (such as response to stimulus and immune system processes), human disease pathways (such as infectious diseases, endocrine and metabolic diseases, and immune diseases), and organismal system pathways (such as the digestive system, endocrine system, environmental adaptation, and immune system). Moreover, plasma total immunoglobulin E (IgE), histamine, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 levels were significantly increased when the mice were treated with FBs. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that FBs affect the intestinal immune response and IgE and cytokine secretion in DBA/1 mice.

Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. extract changes miRNA expression profiles in db-/db- mouse kidney

BACKGROUND: A number of dysregulated miRNAs have been identified and are proposed to have significant roles in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus or renal pathology. Alpinia oxyphylla has shown significant anti-inflammatory properties and play an anti-diabetes role. The objective of this study was to detect the alteration of miRNAs underlying the anti-diabetes effects of A. oxyphylla extract (AOE) in a type II diabetic animal model (C57BIKsj db-/db-). RESULTS: Treatment with AOE for 8 weeks led to lower concentrations of blood glucose, urine albumin, and urine creatinine. 17 and 13 miRNAs were statistically identified as differentially regulated in the DB/DB and db-/db- AOE mice, respectively, compared to the untreated db-/db- mice. Of these, 7 miRNAs were identified in both comparison groups, and these 7 miRNAs were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Functional bioinformatics showed that the putative target genes of 7 miRNAs were associated with several diabetes effects and signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: These founding suggest that the potential of AOE as a medicinal anti-diabetes treatment through changes in the expressions of specific miRNAs. The results provide a useful resource for future investigation of the role of AOE-regulated miRNAs in diabetes mellitus.