Efficacy and Safety of a Self-Improved Continuous Bladder Irrigation Sensor Device in Patients after Transurethral Resection of the Prostate: A Prospective Study.

Purpose To explore the efficacy and safety of a self-improved continuous bladder irrigation (CBI) sensor device after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Materials and Methods A total of 160 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who received TURP from June 2021 to May 2022 were selected. According to the envelope randomization method, patients were divided into a control group (80 cases) and study group (80 cases). In the control group, the speed of bladder flushing fluid was adjusted according to the clinical experience of nurses. On the basis of the control group, the self-improved CBI sensor device was used in the study group to observe the postoperative comfort and complication rate in the two groups. Results The comfort of patients in the study group was significantly higher than that of patients in the control group (97.50% vs. 88.75%, P = .023), and the number of postoperative complications in the control group was significantly higher than that in the study group (8.75% vs. 1.25%, P = .021). Meanwhile, the average amount of irrigation fluid in the study group was obviously lower than that in the control group (26.4 L vs. 27.8 L, P = .011). In addition, patients in the study group had a significantly shorter hospital stay than the controls (3.3 days vs. 3.6 days, P = .005). Conclusion Implementation of the new self-improved CBI sensor device for patients after TURP can improve their awareness regarding disease-related knowledge, alleviate their fear and anxiety, improve their compliance and comfort with treatment and nursing, and reduce the incidence of complications.

Efficacy of preoperative Shugan Sanjie decoction combined with mammotome-assisted minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis: A retrospective cohort study.

The management of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) poses a significant challenge because of its ambiguous etiology. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with mammotome-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MAMIS) for the treatment of IGM. This retrospective cohort study included patients with IGM who underwent treatment at our hospital between January 2017 and June 2022. Patients treated with Shugan Sanjie decoction alone and preoperative Shugan Sanjie decoction combined with MAMIS were included in Groups A and B, respectively. We focused on the demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of the patients in the 2 groups. A total of 124 female patients with an average age of 33.9 ± 3.6 years were included in the study. The demographic and clinical characteristics of patients in Groups A (n = 55) and B (n = 69) were similar (P > .05). However, there were significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of treatment duration, 1-year complete remission (CR), and recurrence. Group B showed shorter treatment time (11.7 ± 5.1 vs 15.3 ± 6.4 months, P = .001), higher 1-year CR (72.5% vs 45.5%, P = .002), and lower recurrence (7.2% vs 21.8%, P = .019) in comparison to Group A. Shugan Sanjie decoction promoted the shrinkage of breast lesions in patients with IGM. Combined with MAMIS, this treatment regimen shortened the treatment duration, accelerated the recovery process, and reduced the recurrence rate.

Synergistic effects of soluble PD-1 and IL-21 on antitumor immunity against H22 murine hepatocellular carcinoma.

Cancer immunotherapies are designed to elicit T-cell responses that inhibit tumor growth. Previous studies have demonstrated that interleukin 21 (IL-21) is a promising cytokine for cancer immunotherapy due to its ability to induce the immunity of T cells and natural killer cells, whereas blockade of the interaction of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) with its ligand (PD-L1) reduces peripheral tolerance. In the current study, we investigated IL-21 alone and in combination with soluble PD-1 (sPD-1) for the treatment of experimental H22 murine hepatocarcinoma. The naked plasmids pmIL-21 and/or psPD-1 were used for local gene transfer by injection. In these assays, sPD-1 combined with IL-21 was found to significantly inhibit the growth of the tumors in mice. Combined treatment with IL-21 and sPD-1 enhanced the antitumor immune response compared with that induced by IL-21 alone. Combined treatment was found to increase CTL cytotoxicity, increase the number of CTLs and NK cells in splenocytes, upregulate the cytokines IFN-γ and IL-2 and downregulate IL-10. Thus, immunotherapy with IL-21 in combination with sPD-1 was found to induce a more efficacious antitumor immune response, which may have potential clinical implications.

[Effects of acupoint-embedding of medicinal thread and electroacupuncture on contents of TNF-alpha and IL-6 of hippocampus tissue in rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of acupoint-embedding (AE) of collagen plus Tetramethylpyrazine and electroacupuncture (EA) on the contents of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in hippocampus tissue in rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (CI-R) injury. METHODS: A total of 120 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control (n=8), sham operation (n=24), model (CI-R, n=24), EA (n=24) and AE (n=24) groups, and the later 4 groups were further divided into 24 h, 72 h and 120 h subgroups (time-points) separately, with 8 cases in each. CI-R model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion. For animals of AE group, the medicinal thread consisting of collagen and Tetramethylpyrazine was implanted into "Dazhui" (GV14) and bilateral "Neiguan" (PC6), once daily. For rats of EA group, EA (120 cycles/min, 1 mA) was applied to GV14 and PC6 for 30 min, once daily. The contents of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the hippocampus were detected by using radio-immunoassay after processing the tissue samples (homogenate, centrifuge). RESULTS: The contents of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in hippocampus tissue of model group at 24 h, 72 h and 120 h time-points were significantly higher than those of normal control and sham operation groups (P<0.05), while after EA and AE, the contents of TNF-alpha at the 3 time-points decreased significantly (P<0.05), and IL-6 contents at the same 3 time-points increased further and significantly (P<0.05). Comparison between EA and AE groups showed that the contents of TNF-alpha of the later group at 72 h and 120 h were significantly lower than those of EA group (P<0.05), while IL-6 contents of AE group were significantly higher than those of EA group at the same time-points (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both EA and AE of collagen and Tetramethylpyrazine can evidently lower TNF-alpha content and significantly raise IL-6 level in hippocampus in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and the effect of AE is significantly superior to that of EA, which may contribute to their protective effects on ischemic cerebral neurons.