Investigation of the mode of pharmacist participating in multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment and effect evaluation / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the mode of pharmacists’ participation in multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment （MDT）， as well as the effects of pharmacists’ participation. METHODS Retrieved from Cochrane Library， PubMed， Embase， CNKI， CBM and Wanfang database， experimental studies and observational studies on the effects of MDT with pharmacists on clinical outcomes of patients were collected. After data extraction and quality evaluation， the results of included studies were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS A total of 10 studies were included， among which 3 were randomized controlled trials （RCT）， 2 were non-RCT， 4 were cohort and 1 was case-control study； there were 2 422 patients in total. In terms of effectiveness， tumor progression-free survival， glycosylated hemoglobin， re-admission rate and length of stay and other indexes were all improved significantly after pharmacists participated in MDT. In terms of safety， the incidence of major bleeding events was significantly decreased after pharmacists participated in MDT. In terms of economy， hospitalization costs and total outpatient expenses were improved significantly after pharmacists participated in MDT， but medical cost was not improved significantly. In terms of humanistic outcomes， there was controversy over the conclusion of patient compliance after pharmacists participated in MDT. CONCLUSIONS Pharmacists， based on their own pharmaceutical care skills and methods， actively participate in MDT throughout the process， improving the clinical outcomes of patients and enhancing the safety of medication. There are still controversies regarding economic and humanistic outcomes.

Panscleritis After Blunt Ocular Trauma in A Child with Epididymitis / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

We reported an 8-year-old boy with panscleritis in left eye and right epididymitis after falling on the ground. Etiologic diagnosis played a key role in this case. Systemic examinations ruled out systemic autoimmune diseases, tumors, and infections as the cause of scleritis and suggested that the disease was caused by a local delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) induced by ocular trauma and was non-infectious. Still, the right epididymitis was infectious. Both conditions were treated successfully using steroids and antibiotics, respectively. Thus, early etiologic diagnosis and reasonable treatment are crucial to prevent visual loss.

Alcohol extract of root and root bark of Toddalia asiatica alleviates CIA in rats through anti-inflammatory and proapoptotic effects / 中国中药杂志

This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of alcohol extract of root and root bark of Toddalia asiatica(TAAE) on collagen-induced arthritis(CIA) in rats through phosphatidylinoinosidine-3 kinase/protein kinase B(PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway. To be specific, CIA was induced in rats, and then the rats were treated(oral, daily) with TAAE and Tripterygium Glycoside Tablets(TGT), respectively. The swelling degree of the hind leg joints was scored weekly. After 35 days of administration, the histopathological changes were observed based on hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed to detect the levels of cytokines [tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin(IL)-6)]. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) staining was performed to detect the apoptosis of synoviocytes in rats. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins B-cell lymphoma 2(Bcl-2)-associated X(Bax), Bcl-2, and caspase-3 and pathway-related proteins phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K), phosphorylated(p)-PI3K, protein kinase B(Akt), and p-Akt. RT-qPCR was conducted to examine the mRNA levels of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β and pathway-related proteins PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt, and p-Akt. TAAE can alleviate the joint swelling in CIA rats, reduce serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, improve synovial histopathological changes, promote apoptosis of synoviocytes, and inhibit synovial inflammation. In addition, RT-qPCR and Western blot results showed that TAAE up-regulated the level of Bax, down-regulated the level of Bcl-2, and activated caspase-3 to promote apoptosis in synoviocytes. TAAE effectively down-regulated the protein levels of p-PI3K and p-Akt. In this study, TAAE shows therapeutic effect on CIA in rats and reduces the inflammation. The mechanism is that it suppresses PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and promotes synoviocyte apoptosis. Overall, this study provides a new clue for the research on the anti-inflammatory mechanism of TAAE and lays a theoretical basis for the better clinical application of TAAE in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Effect of intraoperative regional cerebral oxygen saturation monitoring on perioperative neurocognitive disorders in elderly patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis / 中华麻醉学杂志

Objective:To systematically review and evaluate the effect of intraoperative regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO 2) monitoring on perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) in elderly patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Methods:China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, China Biomedical Literature Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to October 2022 for randomized controlled trials involving the effects of intraoperative rSO 2 monitoring on PND in elderly patients underwent non-cardiac surgery. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of PND (1-7 days after surgery), and secondary outcome measures were intraoperative minimum rSO 2 (rSO 2min), intraoperative mean rSO 2 (rSO 2mean), maximum percentage of decrease (rSO 2% max) in rSO 2 from baseline (rSO 2baseline), and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale was used to evaluate the quality of references that met the inclusion criteria, and data were extracted for meta-analysis using RevMan5.4 software. Results:Thirteen randomized controlled trials were enrolled, involving 1 134 patients with 557 patients in experimental group (anesthesia under rSO 2 monitoring) and 577 patients in control group. The results of meta-analysis showed that the incidence of PND was significantly lower in experimental group than in control group ( RR=0.32, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 0.25-0.41, P<0.001), the intraoperative rSO 2min was significantly higher in experimental group than in control group ( MD=7.46, 95% CI 5.05-9.86, P<0.001), and the intraoperative rSO 2mean was significantly higher in experimental group than in control group ( MD=5.49, 95% CI 3.97-7.02, P<0.001), the intraoperative rSO 2% max was significantly lower in experimental group than in control group ( MD=-6.55, 95% CI-9.03--4.07, P<0.001), and the postoperative Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score was significantly higher in experimental group than in control group ( MD=1.37, 95% CI 0.74-1.99, P<0.001). Conclusions:Intraoperative application of rSO 2 monitoring can reduce the occurrence of PND in elderly patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.

The application of fluorescein sodium for the resection of medulloblastoma.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical resection of medulloblastoma (MB) remains a challenge. At present, a variety of tracers have been used for intraoperative tumor visualization. However, there are few reports on the intraoperative visualization of MB. Hence, we reported our experience of applying fluorescein sodium (FS) in MB surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical information of patients with MB confirmed by surgery and pathology from January 2016 to December 2020 from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. A total of 62 patients were enrolled, of which 27 received intraoperative FS and 35 did not. The intraoperative dose of FS was 3 mg/kg. RESULTS: Among the 62 patients, 42 were males, and twenty were females. The age of onset in the FS group was 9.588 ± 7.322, which in the non-fluorescein sodium group was 13.469 ± 10.968, p = 0.198. We did not find significant differences in tumor location, tumor size, tumor resection, tumor histology, and preoperative symptoms (hydrocephalus, headache, vomit, balance disorder) between the groups. There was no significant difference in the postoperative symptoms (hydrocephalus, headache, vomiting, balance disorder, and cerebellar mutism). However, patients in the FS group had a relatively low incidence of balance disorder and cerebellar mutism. There was definite fluorescence of tumor in all cases of the FS group, and even the tiny metastatic lesion was visible. No case had side effects related to the use of FS. CONCLUSIONS: FS is safe and effective in MB surgery. Whether the application of FS for surgery can reduce complications remains to be studied in the future.

Thrombosis in VEXAS syndrome.

VEXAS syndrome, an autoinflammatory syndrome due to a Ubiquitin Like Modifier Activating Enzyme 1 (UBA1) somatic mutation, has a high thrombotic burden. We report a case of a 69-year-old male that was diagnosed with VEXAS syndrome who developed venous thromboembolism (VTE). Review of literature of existing VEXAS syndrome cases showed a high thrombotic burden, with the reported incidence of VTE (36.4%) being markedly higher than arterial thrombosis (1.6%), with deep vein thrombosis being more common than pulmonary embolism. Somatic mutation in the UBA1 gene results in decreased ubiquitylation which is a key driver in the development of thrombosis in VEXAS syndrome, due to chronic inflammation and cytokine release from abnormal crosstalk between the intrinsic effector mechanism of innate immune cells, platelets and endothelium resulting in dysregulated haemostasis and endothelial dysfunction. Targeting endothelial dysfunction and reducing inflammatory milieu causing hypercoagulability with immunosuppressants and immunomodulatory agents, together with anticoagulation may be the strategy to prevent recurrent thrombotic events.

Fluorescence imaging in hepatocellular carcinoma patients by using a glypican 3-specific probe / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective:To study the glypican 3 (GPC3) fluorescent probe imagings in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and to determine its prognostic value in HCC patients.Methods:The data of 87 patients who were treated at the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2019 to August 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 75 males and 12 females, with the age of (56.1±11.9) years. The expressions of GPC3 were measured by immunohistochemistry and by the fluorescent probe. The results obtained by these two tests were compared. Patients were followed up for recurrence after hepatectomy. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to analyze factors influencing recurrence-free survival.Results:Detection of the GPC3 expression by GPC3 fluorescence probe was consistent with the results obtained by immunohistochemical studies ( Kappa=0.84, P<0.001). The positive rates of GPC3 fluorescent probe was 79.3%(69/87), compared with 80.4%(70/87) by immunohistochemistry studies, with no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). The patients were then divided into the low differentiation group ( n=30) and the middle high differentiation group ( n=57) by the degrees of tumor differentiation. The fluorescence intensity in the low differentiation group was 134.4(128.0, 144.7) a. u. which was significantly different from the middle high differentiation group of 84.8(0, 108.5)a.u. ( Z=-7.52, P<0.001). The median fluorescence intensity of 87 patients with HCC was 108.6 a. u.. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that patients with a GPC3 fluorescence intensity ≥108.6 a. u. ( HR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.21-3.53, P=0.008) had a significant increased risk of recurrence after hepatectomy. Conclusion:The expressions of GPC3 in HCC were consistent between the studies by using either a GPC3 specific fluorescent probe or immunohistochemistry studies. A GPC3 fluorescence intensity ≥108.6 a. u. was a risk factor of recurrence after hepatectomy in patients with HCC.

Analysis of the influencing factors of myopia among primary and middle school students in Mengzi city in 2019 / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM: To explore the current situation of myopia among children and adolescents in Mengzi city and the possible influencing factors of myopia.METHODS: A multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to select students in 7 schools(2 primary schools, 2 junior high schools, 2 high schools, and 1 vocational high school)in Mengzi city, Yunnan Province in October 2019. A total of 1 837 students were selected for questionnaire surveys, and examination of distance visual acuity and noncycloplegic autorefraction. There were 1 622 valid questionnaires were finally collected after checking the integrity and rationality of the questionnaires. RESULTS: The prevalence of myopia among primary and secondary students in Mengzi city in 2019 was 61.34%. The prevalence of myopia in girls(71.36%)was higher than that in boys(50.45%), and the prevalence of myopia in Han nationality(70.19%)was higher than that in ethnic minorities(57.70%). With the grade growth, the prevalence of myopia showed an upward trend. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of myopia were female(<i>OR</i>=2.308), Han nationality(<i>OR</i>=1.712), higher learning stage(junior high school: <i>OR</i>=1.579, high school: <i>OR</i>=5.538), the time of doing homework daily in the past 1wk(1-<2h: <i>OR</i>=1.456, 2-<3h: <i>OR</i>=1.514, ≥3h: <i>OR</i>=1.901), occasionally or never keep your eyes more than one foot away from a book while reading and writing(<i>OR</i>=1.741), insufficient sleep(<i>OR</i>=1.585), parental myopia(<i>OR</i>=2.191).CONCLUSION:The prevalence of myopia among primary and middle school students in Mengzi city is at a relatively high level. Female, Han nationality, higher learning stage, the time of doing homework daily in the past 1wk≥1h, occasionally or never keep your eyes more than one foot away from a book while reading and writing, insufficient sleep and parental myopia are all risk factors that can cause myopia.

Postoperative health-related quality of life in children with congenital heart disease: a literature review / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most frequent congenital malformation in children.With the improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of CHD, most children can survive to adulthood without suffering cardiovascular diseases.However, relevant research suggests that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of some children with CHD after surgery still differs from that of healthy children of the same age.Based on a brief review of the concept of HRQOL, effective evaluation tools and the research status at home and abroad, disputes among relevant research conclusions in different countries or regions were discussed in this article.The influence of the child, family and diagnosis and treatment on postoperative HRQOL of children with CHD was analyzed.Approaches and response plans were put forward to improve postoperative HRQOL.In addition, the limitations of past research were pointed out, and suggestions were made on future research methods, tools and directions in this field.It′s hoped that this study can provide valuable information for CHD diagnosis and treatment and reference for follow-up research.

Clinical evaluation of malnutrition in maintenance hemodialysis patients / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To study the evaluation method of protein energy wasting (PEW) in maintenance hemodialysis patients.Methods:A total of 166 maintenance hemodialysis patients were selected. Their medical records, physical indicators, as well as NS2002, PG-SGA, and MUST nutrition scale scores were also collected. The patients were divided into PEW and non-PEW groups according to whether PEW occurred or not, and the differences in each index between the two groups were compared to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of each index and nutrition score scale results on the occurrence of PEW.Results:The differences in body mass, body mass index(BMI), body surface area, abdominal circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, upper arm circumference, and calf circumference between the PEW and non-PEW groups were statistically significant(all P<0.05). The diagnostic efficacy of a single physical index or nutrition score for PEW was limited. A simplified formula for the PEW risk was obtained by logistic model analysis. The formula had a sensitivity of 67.7% and a specificity of 94.4% for the diagnosis of PEW, as analyzed by the subject's working characteristic curve. Conclusions:Four indicators, including abdominal circumference, primary hand grip strength, BMI, and upper arm circumference, can be combined to comprehensively assess the presence of PEW to improve the diagnostic efficacy of the occurrence of malnutrition in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Caffeine and EGCG Alleviate High-Trans Fatty Acid and High-Carbohydrate Diet-Induced NASH in Mice: Commonality and Specificity.

Caffeine and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which respectively, are the main functional extracts from coffee and green tea, and present protective effects against non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). These two beverages and their functional extracts are highly recommended as potential treatments for obesity and NAFLD in clinics; however, their pharmacodynamic effects and pharmacological mechanisms in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the commonality and specificity of the pharmacodynamic effects and pharmacological mechanisms of caffeine and EGCG on NASH mice, which were fed with a high-trans fatty acid/high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diet. C57BL/6J mice were fed a normal diet (control group) or an HFHC diet (HFHC group) for 24 weeks. HFHC group mice were additionally treated with caffeine (75 mg/kg) or EGCG (100 mg/kg) for 6 weeks, using obeticholic acid (OCA,10 mg/kg) as a positive control group. The pharmacological effects of the drugs, including effects on glucose and lipid metabolism and liver inflammation and fibrosis, were evaluated. Gene expression in liver tissue samples from the different groups were assessed. Both caffeine and EGCG significantly reduced the liver manifestations of NASH induced by HFHC. The pathological aspects of liver lipid deposition, inflammation, and liver fibrosis in both groups were strongly ameliorated. Of note, most indexes were strongly reversed in the caffeine group, although AST activity, fasting blood glucose, and the HOMA-IR index were improved in the ECGC group. There were 714 differentially expressed genes between the caffeine and HFHC groups and 268 differentially expressed genes between the EGCG and HFHC groups. Twenty and 17 NASH-related KEGG signaling pathways were enriched by caffeine and EGCG. This study confirmed that 75 mg/kg caffeine and 100 mg/kg EGCG could significantly improve liver lipid deposition, glucose metabolism, inflammation, and fibrosis in a mouse model of NASH induced by HFHC. The bioinformatics platform we built for caffeine and EGCG in NASH disease found that the two drugs may greatly overlap in improving the mechanism related to NASH inflammation. However, caffeine may have better potential in regulating glucose metabolism and EGCG may have better potential in regulating lipid metabolism.

Genome-Wide Profiling Reveals HPV Integration Pattern and Activated Carcinogenic Pathways in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a significant etiologic driver of penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC). The integration pattern of HPV and its carcinogenic mechanism in PSCC remain largely unclear. We retrospectively reviewed 108 PSCC cases who received surgery between 2008 and 2017. Using high-throughput viral integration detection, we identified 35 HPV-integrated PSCCs. Unlike cervical cancer, the HPV E2 oncogene was not prone to involvement in integration. Eleven of the 35 (31.4%) HPV-integrated PSCCs harbored intact HPV E2; these tumors had lower HPV E6 and E7 expression and higher expression of p53 and pRb proteins than those with disrupted E2 did (p < 0.001 and p = 0.024). Integration breakpoints are preferentially distributed in or near host genes, including previously reported hotspots (KLF5, etc.) and newly identified hotspots (CADM2, etc.), which are mainly involved in oncogenic signaling pathways (MAPK, JAK/STAT, etc.). Regarding the phosphorylation levels of JNK, p38 was higher in HPV-positive tumors with MAPK-associated integration than those in HPV-positive tumors with other integration and those in HPV-negative tumors. In vitro, KLF5 knockdown inhibited proliferation and invasion of PSCC cells, while silencing CADM2 promoted migration and invasion. In conclusion, this study enhances our understanding of HPV-induced carcinogenesis in PSCC, which may not only rely on the E6/E7 oncogenes, but mat also affect the expression of critical genes and thus activate oncogenic pathways.

Phase 2 trial of neoadjuvant toripalimab with chemotherapy for resectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer.

Multimodality treatment provides modest survival benefits for patients with locally advanced (stage III) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nevertheless, preoperative immunotherapy has continuously been shown to be promising in treating resectable NSCLC.This phase 2 trial enrolled patients with AJCC-defined stage IIIA or T3-4N2 IIIB NSCLC deemed surgically resectable. Patients received three cycles of neoadjuvant treatment with intravenous PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab (240 mg), carboplatin (area under the curve 5), and pemetrexed (500 mg/m2 for adenocarcinoma) or nab-paclitaxel (260 mg/m2 for other subtypes) on day 1 of each 21-day cycle. Surgical resection was performed 4-5 weeks afterward. The primary endpoint was major pathological response (MPR), defined as less than 10% residual tumor remaining at the time of surgery.Thirty-three patients were enrolled, of whom 13 (39.4%) had T3-4N2 stage IIIB disease. Thirty (90.9%) patients underwent resection and all except one (96.7%) achieved R0 resection. Twenty patients (60.6%) in the intention-to-treat population achieved an MPR, including 15 patients (45.5%) who achieved a pathological complete response (pCR). The MPR and pCR rates in the per-protocol population were 66.7% and 50.0%, respectively. The surgical complications included three cases of arrhythmias, one case of a prolonged air leak, and one case of chylothorax. The most common grade 3 treatment-related adverse event (TRAE) was anemia (2, [6.1%]). Severe TRAEs included one (3.0%) case of grade 3 peripheral neuropathy that resulted in surgical cancellation.Toripalimab plus platinum-based doublet chemotherapy yields a high MPR rate, manageable toxicity, and feasible resection in stage III NSCLC.Trial ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04304248).

Modification of Pathologic T Classification for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer With Visceral Pleural Invasion: Data From 1,055 Cases of Cancers ≤ 3 cm.

BACKGROUND: Visceral pleural invasion (VPI) with PL1 or PL2 increases the T classification from T1 to T2 in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) ≤ 3 cm. We proposed a modified T classification based on VPI to guide adjuvant therapy. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is it reasonable to upstage PL1-positive cases from T1 to T2 for NSCLCs ≤ 3 cm? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In total, 1,055 patients with resected NSCLC were retrospectively included. Tumor sections were restained with hematoxylin and eosin stain and Victoria blue elastic stain for the elastic layer. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Subgroup analysis and a Cox proportional hazards model were used to further determine the impact of VPI on survival. RESULTS: The extent of VPI was diagnosed as PL0 in 824 patients, PL1 in 133 patients, and PL2 in 98 patients. The 5-year DFS rates of patients with PL0, PL1, and PL2 were 62.6%, 60.2%, and 28.8% (P < .01), whereas the corresponding 5-year OS rates were 78.6%, 74.4%, and 50.0% (P < .01), respectively. As predicted, the DFS and OS of patients with PL2 were much worse than those of patients with PL0 (P < .01) and PL1 (P < .01). However, both the DFS and OS of patients with PL0 and PL1 were comparable (DFS: P = .198; OS: P = .150). For node-negative cases, the DFS and OS of patients with PL0 and PL1 were also comparable (DFS: P = .468; OS: P = .388), but patients with PL2 had much worse DFS and OS than patients with PL0 (P < .01) and PL1 (P < .01). Multivariable analyses suggested that PL2, together with node positivity and poor cell differentiation, was an independent adverse prognostic factor. INTERPRETATION: In NSCLCs ≤ 3 cm, tumors with PL1 should remain defined as T1, not T2. Overtreatment by adjuvant chemotherapy in node-negative NSCLCs ≤ 3 cm might be avoided in PL1 cases.

Clinicopathological and Prognostic Characteristics of Esophageal Spindle Cell Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Analysis of 43 Patients in a Single Center.

OBJECTIVE: Esophageal spindle cell squamous cell carcinoma (ESCSCC) is a distinct subtype of esophageal carcinoma with unique morphologic and clinicopathologic features. This study aimed to characterize the clinicopathologic manifestations and postoperative prognostic factors of ESCSCC. METHODS: In this study, 43 ESCSCC patients who underwent esophagectomy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2001 and December 2014 were identified. 200 patients with conventional squamous cell carcinoma during the same period were sampled as a control. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides and available data were reviewed, and pertinent clinicopathologic features were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Among the ESCSCC patients, the median age was 60.5 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 2.58:1. The five-year disease-free survival and cancer-specific survival rates were 51.6 and 55.5%, respectively. In the univariate analysis, drinking abuse, tumor size, macroscopic type, perineural invasion, pT, preoperative blood white blood cell count, preoperative blood neutrophil count, and preoperative blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were significantly correlated with the cancer-specific survival and disease-free survival of the ESCSCC patients. The multivariate analysis showed that macroscopic type, perineural invasion, and preoperative blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were independent prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival; macroscopic type, perineural invasion, tumor size, and pT were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival. Moreover, the combined prognostic model for cancer-specific survival (including macroscopic type, perineural invasion, and preoperative blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio), the combined prognostic model for disease-free survival (including macroscopic type, perineural invasion, and tumor size) significantly stratified patients according to risk (low, intermediate, and high) to predict cancer-specific survival, disease-free survival, respectively. In terms of esophageal conventional squamous cell carcinoma cohort, there was no significant difference in long-term outcome when compared with ESCSCC. Though five independent prognostic variables (macroscopic type, perineural invasion, preoperative blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, tumor size, and pT) were indentified in ESCSCC, univariate analysis demonstrated that perineural invasion, preoperative blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were correlated with esophageal conventional squamous cell carcinoma on cancer-specific survival; whereas only perineural invasion on disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed two new prognostic models might aid in risk stratification and personalized management for patients with esophageal spindle cell squamous cell carcinoma who received radical surgery.

Value of radiomics features from adrenal gland and periadrenal fat CT images predicting COVID-19 progression

BackgroundValue of radiomics features from the adrenal gland and periadrenal fat CT images for predicting disease progression in patients with COVID-19 has not been studied. MethodsA total of 1,245 patients (685 moderate and 560 severe patients) were enrolled in a retrospective study. We proposed 3D V-Net to segment adrenal glands in onset CT images automatically, and periadrenal fat was obtained using inflation operation around the adrenal gland. Next, we built a clinical model (CM), three radiomics models (adrenal gland model [AM], periadrenal fat model [PM], and fusion of adrenal gland and periadrenal fat model [FM]), and radiomics nomogram (RN) after radiomics features extracted to predict disease progression in patients with COVID-19. ResultsThe auto-segmentation framework yielded a dice value of 0.79 in the training set. CM, AM, PM, FM, and RN obtained AUCs of 0.712, 0.692, 0.763, 0.791, and 0.806, respectively in the training set. FM and RN had better predictive efficacy than CM (P < 0.0001) in the training set. RN showed that there was no significant difference in the validation set (mean absolute error [MAE] = 0.04) and test set (MAE = 0.075) between predictive and actual results. Decision curve analysis showed that if the threshold probability was more than 0.3 in the validation set or between 0.4 and 0.8 in the test set, it could gain more net benefits using RN than FM and CM. ConclusionRadiomics features extracted from the adrenal gland and periadrenal fat CT images may predict progression in patients with COVID-19. FundingThis study was funded by Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province (QKHZC [2020]4Y002, QKHPTRC [2019]5803), the Guiyang Science and Technology Project (ZKXM [2020]4), Guizhou Science and Technology Department Key Lab. Project (QKF [2017]25), Beijing Medical and Health Foundation (YWJKJJHKYJJ-B20261CS) and the special fund for basic Research Operating Expenses of public welfare research institutes at the central level from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2019PT320003).

A study on the relationship between biomarkers and left ventricular myocardial native T 1 value in patients with lone atrial fibrillation / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To investigate the relationship between serum procollagen Ⅲ amino terminal peptide (PIIINP), collagen I carboxyl terminal cross-linking peptide (CTXI), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) T 1 mapping value in patients with lone atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods:Fifty-five patients with lone AF in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from July 2017 to June 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Another 20 healthy volunteers were examined at the same time to provide normal reference range. All patients completed PIIINP, CTXI, hs-CRP and CMR examination within one week. CMR examination including cine, pre-contrast T 1 mapping, and late gadolinium enhancement sequences. We used t test, Mann-Whitney U test or chi square test to compare the difference of the above indexes between AF patients and the control group. Spearman correlation analysis was used to determine the associations between left ventricular native T 1 value and blood biomarker in AF patients. Results:All the patients were paroxysmal AF with an average age of (48±10) years, of which 46 (83.6%) were male. The PIIINP, CTXI, hs-CRP, left ventricular native T 1 value of AF patients were 5.83 (3.52, 12.40) ng/ml, 4.63 (3.31, 6.82) μg/ml, 3.41 (1.72, 6.61) mg/L and (1 261±23) ms, respectively, which all significant higher than those in healthy subjects (all P<0.05). The native T 1 value of left ventricular myocardium was positively correlated with PIIINP ( r=0.492, P<0.05) and hs-CRP ( r=0.516, P<0.05), but not with CTXI ( r=0.021, P>0.05). Conclusions:The PIIINP, CTXI and hs-CRP increased in patients with lone AF, PIIINP and hs-CRP were correlated with elevated native T 1 value of left ventricular myocardium.

The relationship between vulnerability of coronary atherosclerotic plaque and downstream myocardial perfusion and myocardial strain in mice / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective:To investigate the relationship between vulnerability of mouse coronary artery plaque and downstream myocardial perfusion and myocardial strain.Methods:Thirteen ApoE knockout mice with stable coronary plaques (stable plaque group)and 13 ApoE knockout mice with vulnerable coronary plaques(vulnerable plaque group) were selected as the experimental group, and 15 sex- and age-matched C57BL/6 mice with the same genetic background as ApoE mice were chosed as the control group. Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) was carried out to quantify regional myocardial perfusion at rest and during adenosine stress using a Vevo 2100 system (Visual sonics). Replenishment curves of myocardial contrast were obtained, and rates of signal rise (β) and plateau intensity (A) were recorded. MBF was estimated by the product of A and β. Speckle tracking imaging combined with adenosine stress test was used to evaluate the longitudinal strain of left ventricular myocardium in mice. The vulnerability of the plaque was assessed by histopathology in serial tissue sections of proximal and middle left coronary artery according to the previously reported method.Results:There were no significant differences in body weight, heart rate, left ventricular end diastolic volume, left ventricular end systolic volume, left ventricular mass and ejection fraction among the three groups( P>0.05). The levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein in stable plaque group and vulnerable plaque group were significantly increased when compared with those in control group (all P<0.05). The pathological results showed that the coronary luminal stenosis rates in the stable plaque group and the vulnerable plaque group were (74.3±4.9)% and (75.5±7.1)% respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups( P>0.05). MBF of the middle anterior septum and left ventricular posterior wall in the experimental groups were significantly decreased when compared with that in the control group both in the resting status and during adenosine stress(all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the MCE parameters between the stable plaque group and the vulnerable plaque group at rest( P>0.05). However, during adenosine stress, MBF of the vulnerable plaque group was decreased more significantly than that of the stable plaque group ( P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the values of longitudinal strain of the left ventricle in both experimental groups were decreased during resting status, without statistical significance (all P>0.05), but decreased significantly during adenosine stress and with more decrease in the vulnerable plaque group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:For the same degree of coronary artery stenosis in mice, the coronary artery vulnerable plaque group has less downstream myocardial perfusion and myocardial strain than the stable plaque group during adenosine stress. That is, the plaque vulnerability can affect the downstream myocardial perfusion and myocardial strain in the mouse model.

Effect of 17β-estradiol on the proliferation of condylar chondrocytes / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the effects of 17β-estradiol (E2) on the regulation of the proliferation of condylar chondrocytes and provide a preliminary discussion on the role of phosphorylate-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) in this regulatory process.@*METHODS@#Condylar chondrocytes were isolated from 6-week-old female rats for primary culture. Drug treatment with different concentrations of E2 and/or rapamycin (RAPA) was carried out on second-generation cells. Cell Counting Kit 8 was used to measure the cell viability of condylar chondrocytes after culture for 24, 48, or 72 h, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to detect the relative gene expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), estrogen receptor beta (ERβ), collagen type Ⅱ (COLⅡ), autophagy-related gene 6 (Beclin-1), and autophagy-related gene 5 (ATG-5). Western blot was employed to determine the relative protein expression of ERα, ERβ, Beclin-1, lipid-modified light chain 3B (LC3-Ⅱ), and p-mTOR.@*RESULTS@#E2 could significantly promote the proliferation of chondrocytes cultured @*CONCLUSIONS@#At a concentration of 10

Progress in non-pharmacological treatment of heart failure in children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Although the conventional treatment of heart failure is based on pharmacotherapy, for some children, non-pharmacological treatment can further improve heart function, reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events, improve the quality of life and reduce mortality.Cardiac resynchronization therapy, implantable cardioverter defibrillator, mechanical circulatory support, and heart transplantation expand the thinking and strategies for the treatment of heart failure in children.