Objective To evaluate cardiac involvement in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) using echocardiography combined with electrocardiography. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the detailed medical records of AAV patients treated in Jining First People’s Hospital between January 2020 and December 2024. Eighty patients were enrolled in the AAV group, and the risk of heart disease was compared between the AAV group and a control group with 80 subjects matched for age, sex, and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Results Electrocardiographic abnormalities were observed in 78.75% of patients in the AAV group, while significant electrocardiographic abnormalities only occurred in symptomatic patients in the control group. There were no differences in left atrial enlargement or interventricular septal thickening between the AAV group and the control group. The overall left ventricular systolic function in the AAV group was lower than that in the control group (8.75% vs. 0). The incidence of reduced diastolic function in the AAV group was significantly higher than that in the control group (37.5% vs. 15%). The incidence rates of tricuspid regurgitation, mitral regurgitation, aortic regurgitation, and pericardial effusion in the AAV group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Pericardial thickening, aortic stenosis, pulmonary hypertension, and rare periaortic granulomas were found in the AAV group, but not in the control group. Conclusion Echocardiography and electrocardiography are important examination methods for evaluating cardiac involvement in AAV. These methods have key roles in disease screening, diagnosis and treatment, follow-up, and prognosis judgment.

Cemental tear is a rare and indetectable condition unless obvious clinical signs present with the involvement of surrounding periodontal and periapical tissues. Due to its clinical manifestations similar to common dental issues, such as vertical root fracture, primary endodontic diseases, and periodontal diseases, as well as the low awareness of cemental tear for clinicians, misdiagnosis often occurs. The critical principle for cemental tear treatment is to remove torn fragments, and overlooking fragments leads to futile therapy, which could deteriorate the conditions of the affected teeth. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and subsequent appropriate interventions are vital for managing cemental tear. Novel diagnostic tools, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), microscopes, and enamel matrix derivatives, have improved early detection and management, enhancing tooth retention. The implementation of standardized diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols, combined with improved clinical awareness among dental professionals, serves to mitigate risks of diagnostic errors and suboptimal therapeutic interventions. This expert consensus reviewed the epidemiology, pathogenesis, potential predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cemental tear, aiming to provide a clinical guideline and facilitate clinicians to have a better understanding of cemental tear.
Humans ; Dental Cementum/injuries* ; Consensus ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Tooth Fractures/therapy*

Ameloblastoma is a benign tumor characterized by locally invasive phenotypes,leading to facial bone destruction and a high recurrence rate.However,the mechanisms governing tumor initiation and recurrence are poorly understood.Here,we uncovered cellular landscapes and mechanisms that underlie tumor recurrence in ameloblastoma at single-cell resolution.Our results revealed that ameloblastoma exhibits five tumor subpopulations varying with respect to immune response(IR),bone remodeling(BR),tooth development(TD),epithelial development(ED),and cell cycle(CC)signatures.Of note,we found that CC ameloblastoma cells were endowed with stemness and contributed to tumor recurrence,which was dominated by the EZH2-mediated program.Targeting EZH2 effectively eliminated CC ameloblastoma cells and inhibited tumor growth in ameloblastoma patient-derived organoids.These data described the tumor subpopulation and clarified the identity,function,and regulatory mechanism of CC ameloblastoma cells,providing a potential therapeutic target for ameloblastoma.

Ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) is a major member of the deubiquitinating enzymes (DUB) family. Dysregulation of DUB could lead to dysfunction of the ubiquitin system, which in turn regulates the tumor progression. USP regulates the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by selectively degrading or stabilizing substrate proteins related to oncogenes, tumor suppressors, DNA damage repair, and cell cycle. This article summarizes the research progress of USP in HCC and the application of USP-specific small molecule inhibitors, providing a reference for targeting USP as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for HCC.

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors.Bone metastasis is a common complication during the entire course of breast cancer.The vicious cycle of"tumor-bone microenvironment"was easily formed,which led to the occurrence of bone-related events such as bone pain,pathological fractures,and hypercalcemia,etc.Studies have found that active ingredients of Tripterygium wilfordii exhibit the effect of anti-breast cancer and regulation of bone microenvironment,including inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and migration,inhibition of tumor angiogenesis,induction of autophagy in tumor cells,regulation of bone formation in osteoblast cell,inhibition of bone resorption in osteoclast cell,promoting the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts,and regulation of immune microenvironment,which may be helpful to inhibit breast cancer and bone metastasis.This article systematically reviewed the research progress on pharmacological effects of Tripterygium wilfordii in preventing breast cancer and bone metastasis,analyzed the limitations and application prospects of the current research.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) in children, and to explore its treatment and prognostic factors.Methods:The clinical data of 19 children with PVS treated in Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from October 2016 to March 2022 were analyzed retrospectively.There were 16 males and 3 females.The median age at diagnosis was (2.81±1.95) years.A descriptive analysis of clinical characteristics of children was made.Results:Of the 19 children, 14 cases (73.7%) had primary PVS and 5 cases (26.3%) had secondary PVS after surgery of anomalous pulmonary venous connection (APVC). Thirteen children (68.4%) had hemoptysis.In the hemoptysis children, 5 cases had life-threatening massive hemoptysis, and 11 cases (57.9%) had a history of recurrent respiratory tract infection or pneumonia.Other manifestations of hemoptysis included failure to thrive (6 cases), cyanosis (5 cases), and dyspnea (3 cases). Complications were pulmonary hypertension (6 cases) and right heart failure (3 cases). There were 16 cases (84.2%) of unilateral PVS and 3 cases of bilateral PVS.Interlobular septal thickening, grid shadow and ground glass opacities were found on CT of all PVS cases.Ten cases underwent surgery, and 2 cases of them received angioplasty, but restenosis occurred in both of them.Eight children underwent pulmonary lobectomy, and their clinical symptoms were all relieved after operation.Nine patients were treated conservatively, and 3 cases of them died of bilateral PVS secondary to APVC.The remaining 6 alive cases still had intermittent clinical symptoms during follow-up.Conclusions:Hemoptysis and recurrent respiratory tract infection are the main clinical manifestations of PVS in children, and life-threatening massive hemoptysis can occur.Lobectomy is an effective treatment for unilateral PVS.The prognosis of secondary PVS after APVC is poorer and its mortality is higher, compared with primary PVS.

Patients with spinal cord injury is associated with seriously affected gastrointestinal function and imbalance of intestinal flora, leading to increased inflammation of spinal cord nerves. With the proposal of the theory of gut microbiota-gut-brain axis in recent years, the regulatory role of gut microbiota in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal system has gradually attracted attention. Although a considerable number of studies have focused on the effects of intestinal flora characteristics on spinal cord nerve function repair in patients with spinal cord injury from different perspectives, there are numerous research models for treating spinal cord injury with intestinal flora as intervention targets and remains a lack of unified and effective clinical treatment methods. In this paper, the authors review the research progress in characteristics of intestinal microflora and intestinal microflora-targeted therapeutic methods in patients with spinal cord injury, hoping to provide a reference for the clinical treatment and basic research of spinal cord injury.

Objective:To explore the effects of Onodera′s prognostic nutritional index (PNI) on the prognosis of locally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-OPSCC) after induction chemotherapy followed by sequential chemoradiotherapy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 52 LA-OPSCC patients receiving induction chemotherapy followed by sequential chemoradiotherapy in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University during 2014-2018. The PNI values of all the patients at different treatment phases were statistically analyzed, and the ROC curve was employed to determine the optimal critical value of PNI. The patients in this study were divided into a well-nourished group ( n = 27) and a poorly-nourished group ( n = 25). The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. The Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to analyze the relationships between different nutritional status and prognosis. Clinical features and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results:The PNI values decreased significantly after radiotherapy, with an optimal critical value of 42.4. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the well-nourished group (PNI ≥ 42.4) were 62.6% and 60.9%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those (30.1% and 29.7%) of the poorly-nourished group (PNI < 42.4, χ2 = 11.12, 5.74, P < 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that PNI was an independent prognostic factor for the OS after radiotherapy ( HR = 2.752, 95% CI: 1.095-6.917, P = 0.031). The LA-OPSCC patients aged over 60 years or those who did not respond to induction chemotherapy accounted for a higher proportion of malnutrition after chemoradiotherapy ( χ2 = 4.89, 5.05, P < 0.05). Conclusions:PNI after radiotherapy can be used as a prognostic factor in the evaluation of LA-OPSCC patients receiving induction chemotherapy followed by sequential chemoradiotherapy. The LA-OPSCC patients aged over 60 years or those who do not respond to induction chemotherapy should receive more nutritional support during the chemoradiotherapy.

Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common benign tumour in the salivary gland and has high morphological complexity. However, the origin and intratumoral heterogeneity of PA are largely unknown. Here, we constructed a comprehensive atlas of PA at single-cell resolution and showed that PA exhibited five tumour subpopulations, three recapitulating the epithelial states of the normal parotid gland, and two PA-specific epithelial cell (PASE) populations unique to tumours. Then, six subgroups of PASE cells were identified, which varied in epithelium, bone, immune, metabolism, stemness and cell cycle signatures. Moreover, we revealed that CD36⁺ myoepithelial cells were the tumour-initiating cells (TICs) in PA, and were dominated by the PI3K-AKT pathway. Targeting the PI3K-AKT pathway significantly inhibited CD36⁺ myoepithelial cell-derived tumour spheres and the growth of PA organoids. Our results provide new insights into the diversity and origin of PA, offering an important clinical implication for targeting the PI3K-AKT signalling pathway in PA treatment.
Humans ; Adenoma, Pleomorphic/genetics* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Transcriptome ; Myoepithelioma

Objective:To establish an animal model of acute systemic cold injury in mice.Methods:There were 98 C57BL/6 mice, half male and half female, with body weight of 22-27 g and age of 10 weeks. The mice were randomly divided into 7 groups ( n=14) according to the changes of anal temperature in cold environment, namely, group A (38.5 ± 1) ℃, group B (35 ± 1) ℃, group C (30 ± 1) ℃, group D (25 ± 1) ℃, group E (20 ± 1) ℃, group F (15 ± 1) ℃, and group G (10 ± 1) ℃, among which, group A was the blank control group, and the rest groups were the experimental group. The mice in the blank control group were placed in the normal environment (20 ± 5) ℃, and the mice in the experimental group were placed in the low temperature artificial climate box at - 20℃. The anal temperature of the mice was measured intermittently (as the core temperature), and the time required for the core temperature of the mice to drop to groups B, C, D, E, F and G was recorded. The righting reflex was used to evaluate the consciousness state, the action ability and the general state of each organ of mice were observed, and the blood routine and HE staining of each organ were detected. Results:The lower the core temperature of the experimental group, the longer the time required. The consciousness state, action ability, general state of organs, blood routine, and HE staining of organs in groups B, C, and D were basically the same as those in group A, and there was no acute systemic cold injury. Therefore, the blood routine, general observation of organs, and HE staining of organs in groups B, C, and D were no longer displayed compared with those in group A. Compared with group A, mice in group E began to suffer from disturbance of consciousness and action ability. With the decrease of core body temperature, the damage was aggravated, and mice in group G died. Compared with group A, the indices of blood routine test (WBC, RBC, HGB, PLT) of mice in group E began to decrease, and the univariate variance calculation showed that only WBC changes had statistical significance ( P<0.05). Compared with groups A and E, the indices of blood routine test (WBC, RBC, HGB, PLT) of mice in group F were further reduced, and the changes of each index in univariate variance calculation were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The general observation results showed that compared with group A, the lung, liver and spleen surfaces of mice in group E began to darken, and compared with groups A and E, the lung, liver, spleen, kidney and heart of mice in group F were further deepened and darkened, with irregular edges. HE staining results of various organs showed that compared with group A, the mice in group E began to have partial alveolar structure destruction and a small amount of inflammatory cell infiltration, the central vein of the liver was slightly congested, and the red and white pulp of the spleen were indistinct. Compared with groups A and E, the pathological structure damage of the lung, liver, spleen, kidney, heart and brain tissues of the mice in group F was further aggravated. Conclusions:Detection of consciousness state, action ability, general state of organs, blood routine and HE staining indices of organs in mice under low temperature can simulate the progress of clinical acute cold injury, and the animal model of acute systemic cold injury was successfully prepared.