Diagnostic value of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT for predicting the pathological grade of prostate cancer.

This study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of relevant parameters of 18F-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-1007 PET/CT in predicting the pathological grade of primary prostate cancer. Briefly, a prospective analysis was performed on 53 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer by systematic puncture biopsy, followed by 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT examination prior to treatment within 10 d. The patients were grouped in accordance with the Gleason grading system revised by the International Association of Urology Pathology (ISUP). They were divided into high-grade group (ISUP 4-5 group) and low-grade group (ISUP 1-3 group). The differences in maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), tumor-to-background ratio (TBR), intraprostatic PSMA-derived tumor volume (iPSMA-TV), and intraprostatic total lesion PSMA (iTL-PSMA) between the high- and low-grade group were statistically significant (p < .001). No significant difference was found for mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) between the high- and low-grade groups (Z = -1.131, p = .258). Besides, binary multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only iPSMA-TV and iTL-PSMA were independent predictors of the pathological grading, for which the odds ratios were 18.821 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.040-173.614, p = .010] and 0.758 (95% CI: 0.613-0.938, p = .011), respectively. The area under the ROC of this regression model was 0.983 (95% CI: 0.958-1.00, p < .001). Only iTL-PSMA was a significant parameter for distinguishing ISUP-4 and ISUP-5 groups (Z = -2.043, p = .041). In a nutshell, 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT has good application value in predicting the histopathological grade of primary prostate cancer. Three-dimensional volume metabolism parameters iPSMA-TV and iTL-PSMA were found to be independent predictors for pathological grade.

Sleep benefit in patients with Parkinson's disease is associated with the dopamine transporter expression in putamen.

PURPOSE: Sleep benefit (SB) is a well-known phenomenon in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD); however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether the SB phenomenon in PD patients is associated with dopamine transporter (DAT) expression levels in the striatum. METHODS: The data of 125 PD patients were collected and divided into SB (n = 61) and non-SB (nSB) groups (n = 54) depending on whether they had SB or not. DAT expression on both sides of the striatum in PD patients was measured using 2b-carbomethoxy-3b-(4-trimethylstannylphenyl) tropane (11C-CFT) positron emission tomography imaging. The clinical variables, sleep scores, and striatum 11C-CFT uptake index of PD patients between the SB and nSB groups were compared. The associations of clinical variables, sleep scores, and striatum 11C-CFT uptake index with the SB variable were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the striatum 11C-CFT uptake index in distinguishing SB patients from nSB patients. RESULTS: The tremor subtype ratio (P = 0.011), levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) (P < 0.001), sleep efficiency score (P = 0.025), habitual sleep efficiency (P = 0.012), and night sleep duration (P = 0.005) in the SB group were significantly different from those in the nSB group. The 11C-CFT uptake index in both the contralateral and ipsilateral striata in the SB group was significantly higher than that in the nSB group (P < 0.05). The binary logistic regression showed that SB variables were significantly and independently associated with tremor subtype (P = 0.048), LEDD (P = 0.021), sleep duration at night (P = 0.035), 11C-CFT uptake index in the contralateral (P = 0.013) and ipsilateral (P = 0.019) putamen in PD patients after correction for important clinical confounders. ROC analysis showed that the 11C-CFT uptake index on the onset side of the putamen had a high capacity (AUC: 0.916) to distinguish SB patients from nSB patients with high sensitivity (83.33 %) and specificity (88.89 %). CONCLUSION: DAT expression in the putamen was associated with the SB phenomenon in PD patients, and the putamen DAT expression level could predict the SB phenomenon in PD patients.

The prognostic factors of Ewing sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor: A retrospective analysis of 67 patients at a single center.

To investigate the characteristics and factors that impact the prognosis of Ewing sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/pPNET) patients. We retrospectively analyzed ES/pPNET patients diagnosed at our hospital from January 2011 to December 2020. We used 1-way analysis of variance to investigate whether the age differences between different subgroups were statistically significant and used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model for the survival analysis. Of the 67 included patients, 13 had central nervous system PNET, and 54 had ES/pPNET. The median survival time of the 54 ES/pPNET patients was 18 months; the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year progression-free survival rates were 37.0% and 9.3% and 1.9%, respectively; and the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 66.7%, 27.8%, and 7.4%, respectively. The 1-way analysis of variance results showed no statistically significant age difference between the different subgroups (P = .127 between the central nervous system PNET and ES/pPNET groups, P = .764 between different subgroups within the ES/pPNET group). The univariate survival analysis showed that metastasis at diagnosis and the treatment method were independent factors affecting the OS rate of ES/pPNET patient (P = .003 and 0.000, respectively). The multivariate survival analysis also showed that the treatment method and metastasis at diagnosis were related factors affecting OS (P = .025 and 0.001, respectively). The prognosis of patients with primitive neuroectodermal tumors is poor. The treatment method and metastasis at the time of diagnosis influences ES/pPNET patient survival time, but there is no significant tumor site-dependent correlation with patient age or sex.

SIRT7-Induced PHF5A Decrotonylation Regulates Aging Progress Through Alternative Splicing-Mediated Downregulation of CDK2.

Dysregulation of protein posttranslational modification (PTM) can lead to a variety of pathological processes, such as abnormal sperm development, malignant tumorigenesis, depression, and aging process. SIRT7 is a NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase. Besides known deacetylation, SIRT7 may also have the capacity to remove other acylation. However, the roles of SIRT7-induced other deacylation in aging are still largely unknown. Here, we found that the expression of SIRT7 was significantly increased in senescent fibroblasts and aged tissues. Knockdown or overexpression of SIRT7 can inhibit or promote fibroblast senescence. Knockdown of SIRT7 led to increased pan-lysine crotonylation (Kcr) levels in senescent fibroblasts. Using modern mass spectrometry (MS) technology, we identified 5,149 Kcr sites across 1,541 proteins in senescent fibroblasts, and providing the largest crotonylome dataset to date in senescent cells. Specifically, among the identified proteins, we found SIRT7 decrotonylated PHF5A, an alternative splicing (AS) factor, at K25. Decrotonylation of PHF5A K25 contributed to decreased CDK2 expression by retained intron (RI)-induced abnormal AS, thereby accelerating fibroblast senescence, and supporting a key role of PHF5A K25 decrotonylation in aging. Collectively, our data revealed the molecular mechanism of SIRT7-induced k25 decrotonylation of PHF5A regulating aging and provide new ideas and molecular targets for drug intervention in cellular aging and the treatment of aging-related diseases, and indicating that protein crotonylation has important implications in the regulation of aging progress.

Degeneration in the Zygapophysial Joint of the Fifth Lumbar Vertebra: The V-Shaped Sign Revealed by Bone Scintigraphy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore the nature of a V-shaped sign in the backbone of the fifth lumbar vertebra revealed by whole-body bone scintigraphy (WBBS). METHODS: A local single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scan plus a computed tomography (CT) scan were performed on 41 patients in our department who had a V-shaped sign in the backbone of the fifth lumbar vertebra detected by WBBS. Image fusion was conducted to understand the manifestations of the changes in the V-shaped sign in the CT images in WBBS and to determine the nature of the lesion. RESULTS: All 41 patients presented with degenerative changes observed in the bilateral posterior zygapophysial joint of the fifth lumbar vertebra in the CT imaging bone window, bone hyperplasia of the articular process, joint surface hardening, and a joint gap. The vacuum sign could also be seen in some of these patients. CONCLUSION: The typical V-shaped sign in the posterior zygapophysial joint of the fifth lumbar vertebra revealed by WBBS suggests degenerative changes in the zygapophysial joint of the fifth lumbar vertebra.

Multicenter study of creatinine- and/or cystatin C-based equations for estimation of glomerular filtration rates in Chinese patients with chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE: To establish equations for the estimation of glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) based on serum creatinine (SCr) and/or serum cystatin C (SCysC) in Chinese patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and to compare the new equations with both the reference GFR (rGFR) and the literature equations to evaluate their applicability. METHODS: The 788 Chinese CKD patients were randomly divided into two groups, the training group and the testing group, to establish new eGFR-formulas based on serum CysC and to validate the established formulas, respectively. (99m)Tc-DTPA clearance (as the rGFR), serum Cr, and serum CysC were determined for all patients, and GFR was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation (eGFR1), the MDRD formula (eGFR2), the CKD-EPI formulas (eGFR3, eGFR4), and the Chinese eGFR Investigation Collaboration formulas (eGFR5, eGFR6). The accuracy of each eGFR was compared with the rGFR. RESULTS: The training and testing groups' mean GFRs were 50.84±31.36 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 54.16±29.45 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. The two newly developed eGFR formulas were fitted using iterative computation: [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Significant correlation was observed between each eGFR and the rGFR. However, proportional errors and constant errors were observed between rGFR and eGFR1, eGFR2, eGFR4, eGFR5 or eGFR6, and constant errors were observed between eGFR3 and rGFR, as revealed by the Passing & Bablok plot analysis. The Bland-Altman analysis illustrated that the 95% limits of agreement of all equations exceeded the previously accepted limits of <60 mL/min •1.73 m(2), except the equations of eGFR7 and eGFR8. CONCLUSION: The newly developed formulas, eGFR7 and eGFR8, provide precise and accurate GFR estimation using serum CysC detection alone or in combination with serum Cr detection. Differences in detection methods should be carefully considered when choosing literature eGFR equations to avoid misdiagnosis and mistreatment.