Objective:To investigate the efficacy of systemic glucocorticoid treatment and its related factors in progressive vitiligo patients with vitiligo disease activity (VIDA) scores ≥ 2 points.Methods:A total of 272 progressive vitiligo patients with VIDA scores ≥ 2 points and skin lesion area < 1% of body surface area, who received no systemic glucocorticoid treatment, were collected from Department of Dermatology, the Third People′s Hospital of Hangzhou from June 2018 to June 2019. The area and type of skin lesions, VIDA scores, predisposing factors and special clinical markers (trichrome vitiligo, confetti-like depigmentation, Koebner phenomenon and inflammatory vitiligo) were analyzed. These patients were randomly divided into 3 groups by a random number table: topical glucocorticoid group (62 cases) , oral prednisone + topical glucocorticoid group (76 cases) and compound betamethasone injection + topical glucocorticoid group (134 cases) , and the latter two groups were also called as the systemic and topical glucocorticoid group. The patients in the topical glucocorticoid group were treated with halometasone cream or 0.05% clobetasol propionate cream once a day; during the oral prednisone treatment, the dose was adjusted once every 7 days, and gradually reduced from 30 mg/d to 20, 15, 10 and 5 mg/d, and the treatment lasted 35 days; during the treatment with compound betamethasone injection, intramuscular injection was performed once every 20 days at a dose of 1 ml for 2 sessions. The stable disease rate (defined as the proportion of patients experiencing no progression during the study among the analyzed patients) was calculated in these groups after 3 months of treatment, and changes in vitiligo types were evaluated after 1 year of follow-up. Statistical analysis was carried out by using Kruskal-Wallis H test, χ2 test and Fisher′s exact test. Results:After 3-month treatment, there was a significant difference in the expansion rate of skin lesion area among the 3 groups ( H = 12.468, P < 0.001) , and the expansion rate of skin lesion area was significantly lower in the oral prednisone + topical glucocorticoid group and compound betamethasone injection + topical glucocorticoid group than in the topical glucocorticoid group ( P < 0.001, = 0.005, respectively, α = 0.016 7) ; among the patients with slowly progressive vitiligo (VIDA scores = 2 or 3 points) , the stable disease rate was significantly higher in the systemic and topical glucocorticoid group than in the topical glucocorticoid group ( χ2 = 23.973, 11.877, respectively, both P < 0.001) ; the stable disease rate also significantly differed among the patients with different VIDA scores (VIDA scores = 2, 3 or 4 points) in the systemic and topical glucocorticoid group ( χ2 = 17.122, P < 0.001) . After 3-month treatment, the patients with predisposing factors or special clinical markers showed significantly decreased stable disease rate (47.3% [35/74], 41.2% [47/114], respectively) compared with those without predisposing factors or special clinical markers (70.6% [96/136], 87.5% [84/96]; χ2 = 11.098, 47.548, respectively, both P < 0.001) . After 1 year of follow-up, the proportion of patients with localized vitiligo converted into non-localized vitiligo was significantly higher in the topical glucocorticoid group (41.9%, 26/62) than in the systemic and topical glucocorticoid group (21.9%, 46/210; χ2 = 10.328, P = 0.006) , and higher in the group with predisposing factors or special clinical markers than in that without predisposing factors or special clinical markers respectively (both P < 0.01) . Conclusions:Early systemic glucocorticoid treatment should be performed in the progressive vitiligo patients with high VIDA scores, predisposing factors and special clinical markers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the carcinogenesis and invasive behavior of nasal and paranasal sinus carcinoma (NPSC). METHOD: The expression of COX-2 were detected in 69 case NPSC tissues, paracancerous atypical hyperplasia tissue and normal tissue by using immunohistochemical techniques of SP method. RESULT: The positive rate of COX-2 in NPSC tissues and atypical hyperplasia tissue and normal tissue was 65.22% and 42.31% and 3.33%, respectively. The positive rate of COX-2 in NPSC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissue (P < 0.01), and increased apparently with the lesion progressing from normal to atypical hyperplasia tissue to NPSC tissues, and also correlated with the increasing of tumor (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION COX-2 may play an important role in the carcinogenesis and invasion of NPSC.
Aged ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Cavity ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Nose Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology

Oleic acid(OA),a monounsaturated fatty acid(MUFA),has previously been shown to reverse saturated fatty acid palmitic acid(PA)-induced hepatic insulin resistance(IR).However,its underlying molecular mechanism is unclear.In addition,previous studies have shown that eicos-apentaenoic acid(EPA),a ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid(PUFA),reverses PA-induced muscle IR,but whether EPA plays the same role in hepatic IR and its possible mechanism involved need to be further clarified.Here,we confirmed that EPA reversed PA-induced IR in HepG2 cells and compared the proteomic changes in HepG2 cells after treatment with different free fatty acids(FFAs).A total of 234 proteins were determined to be differentially expressed after PA+OA treat-ment.Their functions were mainly related to responses to stress and endogenous stimuli,lipid meta-bolic process,and protein binding.For PA+EPA treatment,the PA-induced expression changes of 1326 proteins could be reversed by EPA,415 of which were mitochondrial proteins,with most of the functional proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation(OXPHOS)and tricarboxylic acid(TCA)cycle.Mechanistic studies revealed that the protein encoded by JUN and reactive oxygen species(ROS)play a role in OA-and EPA-reversed PA-induced IR,respectively.EPA and OA alle-viated PA-induced abnormal adenosine triphosphate(ATP)production,ROS generation,and calcium(Ca2+)content.Importantly,H2O2-activated production of ROS increased the protein expression of JUN,further resulting in IR in HepG2 cells.Taken together,we demonstrate that ROS/JUN is a common response pathway employed by HepG2 cells toward FFA-regulated IR.

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem (pES) cells isolated from parthenogenetic activation of oocytes and embryos, also called parthenogenetically induced pluripotent stem cells, exhibit pluripotency evidenced by both in vitro and in vivo differentiation potential. Differential proteomic analysis was performed using differential in-gel electrophoresis and isotope-coded affinity tag-based quantitative proteomics to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental pluripotency of pES cells and to compare the protein expression of pES cells generated from either the in vivo-matured ovulated (IVO) oocytes or from the in vitro-matured (IVM) oocytes with that of fertilized embryonic stem (fES) cells derived from fertilized embryos. A total of 76 proteins were upregulated and 16 proteins were downregulated in the IVM pES cells, whereas 91 proteins were upregulated and 9 were downregulated in the IVO pES cells based on a minimal 1.5-fold change as the cutoff value. No distinct pathways were found in the differentially expressed proteins except for those involved in metabolism and physiological processes. Notably, no differences were found in the protein expression of imprinted genes between the pES and fES cells, suggesting that genomic imprinting can be corrected in the pES cells at least at the early passages. The germline competent IVM pES cells may be applicable for germ cell renewal in aging ovaries if oocytes are retrieved at a younger age.
Animals ; Cell Line ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Mice ; Parthenogenesis ; physiology ; Pluripotent Stem Cells ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; methods

Objective:The investigation and research on the application status of Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) is very important to understand the real situation and future development of this technology in China.Methods:This study comprehensively investigated the basic situation of HVPG technology in China, including hospital distribution, hospital level, annual number of cases, catheters used, average cost, indications and existing problems.Results:According to the survey, there were 70 hospitals in China carrying out HVPG technology in 2021, distributed in 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central Government). A total of 4 398 cases of HVPG were performed in all the surveyed hospitals in 2021, of which 2 291 cases (52.1%) were tested by HVPG alone. The average cost of HVPG detection was (5 617.2±2 079.4) yuan. 96.3% of the teams completed HVPG detection with balloon method, and most of the teams used thrombectomy balloon catheter (80.3%).Conclusion:Through this investigation, the status of domestic clinical application of HVPG has been clarified, and it has been confirmed that many domestic medical institutions have mastered this technology, but it still needs to continue to promote and popularize HVPG technology in the future.