Objective To investigate the function and regulatory mechanisms of VCAN gene and protein in metastatic prostate cancer.Methods The data of whole genomic expression profiles got from the prostate cancer metastasis were obtained from gene expression omnibus (GEO) database,a set of bioinformatics tools,such as BRB-Array Tools,protparam,SMART,SignalP 4.0,TMHMM,NetPhos2.0,PredictProtein,SWISS-MODEL,GO,KEGG and STRING softwares were used to accomplish data-mining and bioinformatics analysis.Results There were 73 co-expressed differentially genes in prostate cancer metastasis,21 up-regulated and 52 down-regulated.Bioinformatics analysis indicated that VCAN gene encoded 3396 amino acids,VCAN was also contained one Immunoglobulin domain,two hyaluronan-binding domain,one epidermal growth factor-like domain,one calcium-binding EGF-like domain,one C-type lectin domain and one domain abundant in complement control proteins,and a furthermore analysis suggested that VCAN played essential roles in such important biological function including cell adhesion,hyaluronic acid binding,calcium-binding,glycosaminoglycan binding,extracellular matrix and cell adhesion molecules.Conclusions Bioinformatics analysis had a high efficiency in analyzing microarray data and revealing internal biology information.VCAN may play an important role in the prostate cancer metastasis,Thus,VCAN might be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer metastasis or a new target for its treatment.

Objective To explore the therapeutic effect of phenylethanoid glycosides on cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced dyszoospermia in mice and to preliminary elucidate the mechanisms involved in the process. Methods Phenylethanoid glycoside was extracted by ethanol extraction.Forty male BALB/C mice were randomly divided into control group,model group,low dose of phenylethanoid glycosides group (50 mg· kg-1 )and high dose of phenylethanoid glycosides group (100 mg·kg-1 ).Except control group,the dyszoospermia mouse model was established by peritoneal injection of CTX at the daily dose of 80 mg· kg-1 ,once daily for successive 5 d. After modeling, phenylethanoid glycosides were intragastrically administered at corresponding doses to each phenylethanoid glycosides group.Equal volume of normal saline was given to the mice in control group and model group by gastrogavage.All the medication was performed once daily for successive 30 d.The testis tissue was obtained 24 h after the last intragastric administration.The level of testosterone in the testis tissue homogenate was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.The sperm counts, the motility rates, and the teratospermia rates in various groups were compared.The morphological changes of the testis tissue were observed using HE staining.Results Compared with control group, the sperm count and the motility rate were decreased, the teratospermia rate was increased,and the testosterone level in the testis tissue homogenate was decreased in model group(P<0.01).Compared with model group,the sperm counts and the motility rates were increased,the teratospermia rates were decreased, and the testosterore levels in the testis tissue homogenate were increased in phenylethanoid glycosides groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01).The histological results showed atrophy and degeneration of seminiferous tuble,thicker seminiferous epithelium and azoospermic lumina in model group;the number of seminiferous epithelial layers was increased and the seminiferous cells orderly arranged, and many sperms were found in the tubules in phenylethanoid glycosides groups.Conclusion Phenylethanoid glycosides has obviously therapeutical effect on CTX-induced dyszoospermia in mice,and its mechanisms might be correlated with recovering the testosterone level.

Object The mineralogical and chemical compositions of the natural pharmaceutical montmorillonite clay were analysed with the aim of approaching the material base of its action Methods The means of X ray diffraction (SRD) and X ray fluorescence (SRF) were used for the quantitative analysis of the mineralogical and chemical compositions of the montmorillonite clay samples Results The essential mineralogical and chemical compositions of the six samples were obtained Conclusion Though there is some difference in mineralogical composition of the montmorillonite clay samples from different deposits, the average percentage of montmorillonite content in samples is 86%, and the chemical compositions of six samples are nearly similar

Objective To characterize the feasibility of low-dose CT angingraphy on 16-slice multislice computed tomography (16-MSCT), and its relationship to the noise in the pre-contrast image and enhancement value.Methods Forty-three consecutive patients (male 21, female 22, mean age 59 years, median age 56 years) underwent abdominal 16-MSCT (Toshiba Aquilion 16) with constant scanning parameters including 120 kVp, a 0.5-second gantry rotation time, a pitch of 0.938: 1, and 16×1-mm detector collimation.The mA was set at 200 in the pre-contrast scan and 160 in the contrast-enhanced scan.The arterial phase images were retrospectively reconstructed with 1-mm slice thickness, 0.8 mm interval.The pre-contrast noise was defined as the standard deviation (SD) of the aorta at the level of right posterior crura of diaphragm.The enhancement of aorta was also measured at level of celiac artery.The volume rendering of CT angiography was made and classified into three grades (excellent, good, bad).Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the relationship between the image quality of CT angiography and noise in the pre-contrast image and enhancement value.Results Twenty-five cases had the aorta enhancement between 300.0--400.0 HU.The sensitivity and specificity of excellent CTA image was 75% and 62%, respectively when the SD was 12.00.Eighteen cases had the aorta enhancement more than 400.0 HU.The sensitivity and specificity of excellent CTA image was all 100% when the SD was 12.25, and 100% and 75%, respectively when the SD was 13.35.The area under curve of CTA image quality and enhancement in receiver-operated characteristic analysis was O.907.The enhancement was more than 356.7 HU when the sensitivity and specificity of excellent CTA image was 100% and 60%, respectively, and 389.8 HU when 78% and 80%.When the enhancement was more than 442.4 HU, the specificity of excellent CTA image was 100%.Conclusions MSCT angiography with low radiation dose is feasible.Good CT angiography demands great enhancement, and then, the needed mAs is lower when the SD is smaller.

Objective Detecting of spermatozoal total RNAs by laboratory on chip gel electrophoresis so that it could provide better total RNAs for the sequent experiments, and spur the development of spermatozoal molecular biology. Methods Sperms of healthy adults were collected and then total RNAs were extracted by RNeasy mini kit(QIAGEN), detection and quality control were performed by loboratory on chip gel electrophoresis system. Meantime, the control RNAs were extracted from lymphocytes. Results It was found that there were a plenty of genes expressed in healthy sperms. Electrophoretic graphs showed that the total RNAs of spermatozoal had 2 bands which went ahead a little comparing to the normal somatic cells. The former peak appeared keenness, and the latter was broad and showed like a reversed U. The ratio of them was largely more than 2, no extra peaks were found in electrophoretic graph. Conclusion A simple,intuitionistic method to detect and control the quality of the healthy adults' spermatozoal total RNAs had been successfully constructed by using laboratory on chip gel electrophorosis.

OBJECTIVETo explore the significance of multi-detector CT (MDCT) in differential diagnosis of papillary renal cell carcinoma and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

METHODSClinical data of forty-one cases of renal cancers confirmed pathologically were collected, including 21 cases of papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) (14 type I, 7 type II) and 20 cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC). Their morphological and MDCT characteristics were retrospectively analyzed. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the value of MDCT in differential diagnosis of PRCC and ChRCC. Two senior radiologists analyzed the morphological and the dynamic enhancement characteristics of the images. The attenuation of the lesions and the adjacent renal parenchyma were measured. The morphological indexes were compared with chi-square test and the quantitative indexes were compared with independent sample T-test. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of diagnosis of PRCC and ChRCC.

RESULTSAngioid enhancement and filled enhancement were more common in ChRCC than in PRCC, while delayed enhancement was more often seen in PRCC than in ChRCC. Calcification was more common in type I than type II PRCC. The enhancement value (ΔCT value) in corticomedullary phase was (29.08 ± 20.12) Hu for PRCC, significantly lower than the (48.29 ± 26.70) Hu for ChRCC (t = -2.611, P = 0.013). The ΔCT value of type I PRCC in corticomedullary phase was (26.36 ± 18.16) Hu, showing a significant difference from that of ChRCC (t = -2.666, P = 0.012). The lesion to kidney ratio (LKR) in corticomedullary phase was 0.44 ± 0.19 for PRCC and 0.58 ± 0.15 for ChRCC, with a significant difference between them (t = -2.587, P = 0.014). The LKR of type I PRCC in corticomedullary phase was 0.39 ± 0.15, showing a significant difference from that of ChRCC (t = -3.628, P = 0.001). The difference value (D-value) of the attenuation of lesion between corticomedullary and nephrographic phases was (-3.69 ± 8.90) Hu for PRCC and (8.39 ± 21.98) Hu for ChRCC, with a significant difference between them (t = -2.285, P = 0.031). The D-value of type I PRCC was (-4.55 ± 9.82) Hu, showing a significant difference from that of ChRCC (t = -2.323, P = 0.028). There was no significant difference between the ΔCT, LKR and D-value of the type II PRCC and ChRCC (P > 0.05 for all). The area under the curve (AUC) for ΔCT value, LKR value in corticomedullary phase, and D-value were 0.718, 0.751 and 0.668, respectively, and there were no significant differences among them (z values were 0.896, 0.683 and 0.559, respectively, and P values were 0.370, 0.495 and 0.576, respectively). Using 49.350 Hu as the cutoff value for ΔCT value in corticomedullary phase, resulted in a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 50.0%, 90.5% and 70.7%, respectively. Corresponding values were 65.0%, 81.0% and 73.2%, when using a cutoff value of 0.532 for LKR in corticomedullary phase, and were 60.0%, 76.2% and 68.3%, when using a D-value of 0.400 Hu.

CONCLUSIONSThe ΔCT value, LKR value in corticomedullary phase, and the D-value are all useful indexes for the differentiation of PRCC and ChRCC.

Area Under Curve ; Calcinosis ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Sepsis poses a health challenge globally owing to markedly high rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite employing bundle therapy over two decades, approaches including transient organ supportive therapy and clinical trials focusing on signaling pathways have failed in effectively reversing multiple organ failure in patients with sepsis. Prompt and appropriate perioperative management for surgical patients with concurrent sepsis is urgent. Consequently, innovative therapies focusing on remedying organ injuries are necessitated. Cell therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic avenue for repairing local damage to vital organs and restoring homeostasis during perioperative treatment for sepsis. Given the pivotal role of immune cell responses in the pathogenesis of sepsis, stem cell-based interventions that primarily modulate immune responses by interacting with multiple immune cells have progressed into clinical trials. The strides made in single-cell sequencing and gene-editing technologies have advanced the understanding of disease-specific immune responses in sepsis. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-immune cell therapy offers an intriguing option for the treatment of sepsis. This review provides a concise overview of immune cell therapy, its current status, and the strides made in the context of sepsis research, discussing potential strategies for the management of patients with sepsis during perioperative stages.

Objective : To study the correlation between cerebral white matter structure with cognitive function and blood biochemical indexes in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) . Methods : The diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data of 64 ESRD patients and 47 age and sex matched healthy people were collected. Tract⁃based spatial statistics (TBSS) and XTRACT analysis methods were used to compare the differences in diffusion parameters between the two groups. Pearson correlation analysis was used to detect the correlation between various diffusion parameters and blood biochemical indexes and cognitive related scales. Results : The values of FA in the ESRD group generally decreased (P < 0. 05) . The values of MD, AD and RD obviously increased (P < 0. 05) . The scores of mini mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) decreased (P < 0. 01), while that of trail making test A part (TMT⁃A) increased (P < 0. 05) . In the ESRD group, the values of FA in the right anterior thalamic radiation, optic radiation, acoustic radiation, and cingulum were negatively correlated with the levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen, and positively correlated with MoCA′s scores, and the values of MD and RD of these tracts were positively correlated with the concentration of urea. The values of FA in optic radiation, acoustic radiation and left temporal of cingulum were negatively correlated with the scores of TMT⁃A. The values of FA in the vertical occipital fasciculus, inferior fronto⁃occipital fasciculus, left middle longitudinal fasciculus and forceps major were negatively correlated with the concentration of creatinine. The values of FA in the left arcuate fasciculus were positively correlated with the MoCA′s score, the values of MD and RD of these tracts were positively correlated with the concentration of creatinine, and negatively correlated with the scores of MMSE and MoCA. The values of FA in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus, the right corticospinal tract and the right frontal aslant tract werepositively correlated with the MoCA′s score, the values of MD and RD of these tracts were positively correlated with the concentration of urea; the values of MD and RD in the left fornix were positively correlated with the level of creatinine and urea. Conclusion The structural integrity of white matter in ESRD patients is extensively damaged, which is significantly associated with a variety of cognitive impairments. Serum creatinine and urea nitrogen may be risk factors for the changes in white matter.

Owing to incurable castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) ultimately developing after treating with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), it is vital to devise new therapeutic strategies to treat CRPC. Treatments that target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) have been approved for human cancers with clinical benefit. However, many patients, especially prostate cancer, fail to respond to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment, so it is an urgent need to seek a support strategy for improving the traditional PD-1/PD-L1 targeting immunotherapy. In the present study, analyzing the data from our prostate cancer tissue microarray, we found that PD-L1 expression was positively correlated with the expression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (HnRNP L). Hence, we further investigated the potential role of HnRNP L on the PD-L1 expression, the sensitivity of cancer cells to T-cell killing and the synergistic effect with anti-PD-1 therapy in CRPC. Indeed, HnRNP L knockdown effectively decreased PD-L1 expression and recovered the sensitivity of cancer cells to T-cell killing in vitro and in vivo, on the contrary, HnRNP L overexpression led to the opposite effect in CRPC cells. In addition, consistent with the previous study, we revealed that ferroptosis played a critical role in T-cell-induced cancer cell death, and HnRNP L promoted the cancer immune escape partly through targeting YY1/PD-L1 axis and inhibiting ferroptosis in CRPC cells. Furthermore, HnRNP L knockdown enhanced antitumor immunity by recruiting infiltrating CD8⁺ T cells and synergized with anti-PD-1 therapy in CRPC tumors. This study provided biological evidence that HnRNP L knockdown might be a novel therapeutic agent in PD-L1/PD-1 blockade strategy that enhanced anti-tumor immune response in CRPC.