Objective:To design and evaluate a novel arcuate multi-channel rectal endoluminal applicator to enhance dose coverage of tumors in the upper and middle rectum and reduce pressure on the rectal wall.Methods:Pelvic MRI images of 200 Chinese cases without rectal lesions in the Peking University Third Hospital from July 2022 to August 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on the image data, a rectal model with general characteristics of the population and two novel hard and soft rectal endoluminal applicators were designed and fabricated. The following properties of the conventional applicators and two new applicators were compared: deformation to the model rectal wall, maximum pressure, stable pressure, D 90%, D 100%, V 100%, V 150% and V 200% of the GTV, and D 2 cm3, D 1 cm3, and D 0.1 cm3 of the organs at risk (OAR). ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used to compare the differences among three applicators, and Dunnett's multiple comparison test was used for pairwise comparisons. Results:The novel hard and soft rectal endoluminal applicators caused less deformation of the model rectal wall. The maximum pressure on the rectal wall was (0.606 ± 0.182) kPa and (0.481 ± 0.229) kPa for the hard arcuate applicator and soft arcuate applicator, respectively, and the stable pressure was (0.207 ± 0.137) kPa and (0.055 ± 0.097) kPa, respectively, which were significantly smaller than those of the conventional applicator ( P <0.001, <0.001; P =0.024, <0.001), and the degree of reduction was at or near 50%. Under the premise of ensuring target dose, the D 2 cm3, D 1 cm3, and D 0.1 cm3 of OAR in the treatment plan designed with the novel applicator were significantly reduced compared to the cylindrical applicator (all P<0.001). Conclusion:The novel arcuate multi-channel rectal endoluminal applicator can significantly reduce rectal wall pressure and deformation, while also reducing the dose to OAR without compromising target dose coverage, offering certain therapeutic advantages.

Objective: To explore the basic characteristics of conventional echocardiography of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM) patients complicating with left ventricular apical aneurysm (LVAA). Methods: This is a retrospective study. Patients who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and were diagnosed with ApHCM complicated with LVAA by CMR at Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from August 2012 to July 2017 were enrolled. According to whether LVAA was detected by echocardiography, the enrolled patients were divided into two groups: LVAA detected by echocardiography group and LVAA not detected by echocardiography group. Clinical data of the two groups were compared to analyze the causes of missed diagnosis by echocardiography. Results: A total of 21 patients were included, of whom 67.0% (14/21) were males, aged (56.1±16.5) years. Patients with chest discomfort accounted for 81.0% (17/21), palpitation 38.1% (8/21), syncope 14.3% (3/21). ECG showed that 21 (100%) patients had ST-T changes and 18 (85.7%) had deep T-wave invertion. Echocardiography revealed ApHCM in 17 cases (81.0%) and LVAA in 7 cases (33.3%). The mean left ventricular apical aneurysm diameter was 33.0 (18.0, 37.0) mm, and left ventricular ejection fraction was (66.5±6.6) %, and left ventricular apex thickness was (21.0±6.3) mm. Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction was presented in 4 cases and middle left ventricular obstruction in 10 cases. The mean left ventricular apical aneurysm diameter of LVAA detected by echocardiography was greater than that of LVAA not detected by echocardiography (25.0 (18.0, 28.0) mm vs. 16.0 (12.3, 21.0) mm, P=0.006). Conclusions: Conventional echocardiography examination has certain limitations in the diagnosis of ApHCM. Smaller LVAA complicated with ApHCM is likely to be unrecognized by echocardiography. Clinicians should improve their understanding of this disease.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke Volume ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/diagnostic imaging* ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Echocardiography ; Heart Aneurysm/diagnostic imaging*

Objective: To explore the basic characteristics of conventional echocardiography of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM) patients complicating with left ventricular apical aneurysm (LVAA). Methods: This is a retrospective study. Patients who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and were diagnosed with ApHCM complicated with LVAA by CMR at Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from August 2012 to July 2017 were enrolled. According to whether LVAA was detected by echocardiography, the enrolled patients were divided into two groups: LVAA detected by echocardiography group and LVAA not detected by echocardiography group. Clinical data of the two groups were compared to analyze the causes of missed diagnosis by echocardiography. Results: A total of 21 patients were included, of whom 67.0% (14/21) were males, aged (56.1±16.5) years. Patients with chest discomfort accounted for 81.0% (17/21), palpitation 38.1% (8/21), syncope 14.3% (3/21). ECG showed that 21 (100%) patients had ST-T changes and 18 (85.7%) had deep T-wave invertion. Echocardiography revealed ApHCM in 17 cases (81.0%) and LVAA in 7 cases (33.3%). The mean left ventricular apical aneurysm diameter was 33.0 (18.0, 37.0) mm, and left ventricular ejection fraction was (66.5±6.6) %, and left ventricular apex thickness was (21.0±6.3) mm. Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction was presented in 4 cases and middle left ventricular obstruction in 10 cases. The mean left ventricular apical aneurysm diameter of LVAA detected by echocardiography was greater than that of LVAA not detected by echocardiography (25.0 (18.0, 28.0) mm vs. 16.0 (12.3, 21.0) mm, P=0.006). Conclusions: Conventional echocardiography examination has certain limitations in the diagnosis of ApHCM. Smaller LVAA complicated with ApHCM is likely to be unrecognized by echocardiography. Clinicians should improve their understanding of this disease.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke Volume ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/diagnostic imaging* ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Echocardiography ; Heart Aneurysm/diagnostic imaging*

Objective: To investigate the surgical indications and perioperative clinical outcomes of pelvic exenteration (PE) for locally advanced, recurrent pelvic malignancies and complex pelvic fistulas. Methods: This was a descriptive study.The indications for performing PE were: (1) locally advanced, recurrent pelvic malignancy or complex pelvic fistula diagnosed preoperatively by imaging and pathological examination of a biopsy; (2)preoperative agreement by a multi-disciplinary team that non-surgical and conventional surgical treatment had failed and PE was required; and (3) findings on intraoperative exploration confirming this conclusion.Contraindications to this surgical procedure comprised cardiac and respiratory dysfunction, poor nutritional status,and mental state too poor to tolerate the procedure.Clinical data of 141 patients who met the above criteria, had undergone PE in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2018 to September 2022, had complete perioperative clinical data, and had given written informed consent to the procedure were collected,and the operation,relevant perioperative variables, postoperative pathological findings (curative resection), and early postoperative complications were analyzed. Results: Of the 141 included patients, 43 (30.5%) had primary malignancies, 61 (43.3%) recurrent malignancies, 28 (19.9%) complex fistulas after radical resection of malignancies,and nine (6.4%)complex fistulas caused by benign disease. There were 79 cases (56.0%) of gastrointestinal tumors, 30 cases (21.3%) of reproductive tumors, 16 cases (11.3%) of urinary tumors, and 7 cases (5.0%) of other tumors such mesenchymal tissue tumors. Among the 104 patients with primary and recurrent malignancies, 15 patients with severe complications of pelvic perineum of advanced tumors were planned to undergo palliative PE surgery for symptom relief after preoperative assessment of multidisciplinary team; the other 89 patients were evaluated for radical PE surgery. All surgeries were successfully completed. Total PE was performed on 73 patients (51.8%),anterior PE on 22 (15.6%),and posterior PE in 46 (32.6%). The median operative time was 576 (453,679) minutes, median intraoperative blood loss 500 (200, 1 200) ml, and median hospital stay 17 (13.0,30.5)days.There were no intraoperative deaths. Of the 89 patients evaluated for radical PE surgery, the radical R0 resection was achieved in 64 (71.9%) of them, R1 resection in 23 (25.8%), and R2 resection in two (2.2%). One or more postoperative complications occurred in 85 cases (60.3%), 32 (22.7%)of which were Clavien-Dindo grade III and above.One patient (0.7%)died during the perioperative period. Conclusion: PE is a valid option for treating locally advanced or recurrent pelvic malignancies and complex pelvic fistulas.
Humans ; Pelvic Exenteration/methods* ; Pelvic Neoplasms/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/surgery* ; Postoperative Complications

, a widely used Chinese herbal medicine, was considered as central nervous system (CNS) drug for years. Both ethanol extracts (EES) and water extracts (WES) of it were applied clinically. Unfortunately, the difference of their efficacy and even effective material foundation of remains obscure. In this study, to explore the active constituents of , we compared pharmacodynamics and chemical profiles / of EES/WES for the first time using multiple chemical analysis, pharmacological and data processing approaches. It was proved that there was no significant difference in the anti-depressive effects between WES and EES. However, the contents of most components and in plasma were higher in EES than those in WES, which was unconvincing for their similar efficacy. Therefore, we further explored components of targeted onto brain and the results showed that 5 lignans were identified with definite absorptivity respectively both in EES and WES caused by the limitation of blood-brain barrier. Moreover, bioinformatic analysis predicted their anti-depressive action. Above all, the systematic strategy screened 5 brain-targeted effective substances of and it was suggested that exploring the components into nidi would promote the studies on herbs effective material basis.

OBJECTIVE： To establish a method for the determination of 33 kinds of pesticide residues in Panax ginseng C.A.Mey by GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS. METHODS： The 53 chemical monomers of 33 pesticide residues clearly prohibited by the Chinese ministry of agriculture were selected as the detection indicators. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile by high speed homogenizer. An LC-MS/MS analysis was performed on a CORTECSTM UPLC C18(2.1 mm×150 mm, 1.6 μm) column with isocratic elution of 0.1% formic acid (containing 5 mmol•L-1 ammonium formate) is mobile phase A, 95% acetonitrile(containing 5 mmol•L-1 ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid)is mobile phase B.Electrospray ionization(ESI)source was applied by positive ionization in multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)modes. GC-MS/MS analysis was performed on a DM17ms(30 m×0.25 mm, 0.25 μm)capillary column with electron impact(EI)source, electron impact (EI) source was applied by positive ionization in multiple reaction monitoring modes (MRM). RESULTS: The correlation coefficient r of 33 pesticide residues showed good linearity in the linear range of 2 to 20 ng•mL-1 was greater than 0.990 0. The average recoveries at spiked levels of low level and high level (0.01 and 0.04 mg•kg-1), repeat 5 times per level. The average recovery was 87.57%-120.98%, and the RSD was between 1.45%-14.03%. CONCLUSION： The method can quickly and effectively detect pesticide residues in ginseng.

The sigma-1 receptor (R) is a unique intracellular protein. R plays a major role in various pathological conditions in the central nervous system (CNS), implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders. Imaging of R in the brain using positron emission tomography (PET) could serve as a noninvasively tool for enhancing the understanding of the disease's pathophysiology. Moreover, R PET tracers can be used for target validation and quantification in diagnosis. Herein, we describe the radiosynthesis, PET/CT imaging of novel R C-labeled radioligands based on 6-hydroxypyridazinone, [C]HCC0923 and [C]HCC0929. Two radioligands have high affinities to R, with good selectivity. In mice PET/CT imaging, both radioligands showed appropriate kinetics and distributions. Additionally, the specific interactions of two radioligands were reduced by compounds and (self-blocking). Of the two, [C]HCC0929 was further investigated in positive ligands blocking studies, using classic R agonist SA 4503 and R antagonist PD 144418. Both R ligands could extensively decreased the uptake of [C]HCC0929 in mice brain. Besides, the biodistribution of major brain regions and organs of mice were determined . These studies demonstrated that two radioligands, especially [C]HCC0929, possessed ideal imaging properties and might be valuable tools for non-invasive quantification of R in brain.

The aim of this paper was to screen the active targets of Schizonepetae Herba and Saposhnikoviae Radix in the treatment of ulcerative colitis by means of network pharmacology,and to investigate their mechanism of action. The effective components of Schizonepetae Herba and Saposhnikoviae Radix were screened out by traditional Chinese medicine systematic pharmacological( TCMSP)database,with oral bioavilability( OB) ≥30% and drug-like( DL) ≥18% selected as the thresholds. Target PPI network was built between the main components and their corresponding targets. One hundred and eighty-two human genes corresponding to the medicine target sites were obtained from Uniprot database; 3 874 genes corresponding to ulcerative colitis were obtained from Genecard database.A total of 115 intersection genes were screened from disease genes and medicine genes,and the PPI interaction analysis was conducted by using String tool. Disease-target PPI network was drawn by using Cytoscape software,and component-target-disease network was constructed. One hundred and eight nodes and 1 882 connections were found,and then Cytoscape software was used to merge the networks and filter the core network for gene GO function analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The mechanism of Schizonepetae Herba and Saposhnikoviae Radix was then verified by animal experiment. Gene GO functional analysis suggested that biological process,molecular functions and cell components were involved,and it was found that ulcerative colitis might be related to transcription factor activity,and cytokine receptor binding,etc. Gene KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the mechanism of ulcerative colitis might be associated with TNF and Toll-like receptors( TLRs) signaling pathway-mediated cytoinflammatory factors interleukin-1( IL-1) and interleukin-6( IL6). The possible mechanism of the effective components of Schizonepetae Herba and Saposhnikoviae Radix in treating ulcerative colitis might be related to intervening the cytokine receptor binding of TNF and TLRs signaling pathways,reducing the transcription of nuclear factor-kappaB( NF-κB),and inhibiting the secretion of intestinal inflammatory factors IL-1 and IL-6.
Animals ; Apiaceae/chemistry* ; Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy* ; Databases, Genetic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Interleukins/metabolism* ; Lamiaceae/chemistry* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Protein Interaction Mapping ; Signal Transduction ; Software ; Toll-Like Receptors/metabolism*

BACKGROUNDPlasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and cytokines play an important role in occurrence and recovery of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of this study was to explore the frequency and function of pDC and serum cytokine network profiles in patients with acute or chronic HBV infection.

METHODSThe healthy individuals (HI group), hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic HBV patients in immune tolerance (IT) phase (IT group), HBeAg-positive chronic HBV patients (CHB group), and acute HBV patients (AHB group) were enrolled in this study. The frequency of cluster of differentiation antigen 86 (CD86) + pDC and the counts of CD86 molecular expressed on surface of pDC were tested by flow cytometer. The quantitative determinations of cytokines, including Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt-3L), interferon (IFN)-α2, IFN-γ, interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-6, IL-10, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and TGF-β2, were performed using Luminex multiplex technology.

RESULTSIn this study, there were 13 patients in HI group, 30 in IT group, 50 in CHB group, and 32 in AHB group. Compared with HI group, HBV infected group (including all patients in IT, CHB and AHB groups) had significantly higher counts of CD86 molecular expressed on the surface of pDC (4596.5 ± 896.5 vs. 7097.7 ± 3124.6; P < 0.001). The counts of CD86 molecular expressed on the surface of pDC in CHB group (7739.2 ± 4125.4) was significantly higher than that of IT group (6393.4 ± 1653.6, P = 0.043). Compared with IT group, the profile of cytokines of Flt-3L, IFN-γ, and IL-17A was decreased, IFN-α2 was significantly increased (P = 0.012) in CHB group. The contents of IL-10, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 in AHB group were significantly increased compared with IT and CHB groups (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrated that the function of pDC was unaffected in HBV infection. The enhanced function of pDC and IFN-α2 might involve triggering the immune response from IT to hepatitis active phase in HBV infection. Acute patients mainly presented as down-regulation of the immune response by enhanced IL-10 and TGF-β.

Objective: To investigate the differences in frequency and function of natural killer cells (NK) between chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and acute hepatitis B (AHB). Methods: Patients with AHB and those with CHB in immune active (IA) phase were enrolled. The frequencies of NK, CD56^dimNK, CD56^brightNK and the expression of functional molecules IFNAR2 and NKp46 on the surface of NK cells were detected respectively among patients with CHB in IA phase, patients with AHB, and those recovered from AHB. At the same time, their correlations with ALT, HBV DNA and HBV markers were analyzed. Results: Between IA and AHB, the frequencies of NK cells and NKp46^dim NK cells in AHB cases were significantly lower than those in IA cases, but the frequency of NKp46^high NK cells in AHB was higher than that in IA. For patients who recovered from AHB, the frequency of NK cells and NKp46^dim NK cells increased; the varied ranges of frequencies of CD56^dimNK, IFNAR2⁺ NK and NKp46⁺ NK cells were on the rise, while the frequency of NKp46^high NK cells decreased after the recovery from AHB, and the varied ranges of CD56^brightNK and IFNAR2MFI, NKp46MFI decreased. In AHB, HBVDNA loads were positively correlated with ALT levels. Before and after the recovery of AHB: ΔHBV DNA and ΔALT, Δ NK/LY (%) were positively correlated; ΔALT and ΔNKp46^highNK/NK(%), ΔNKp46MFI, ΔIFNAR2MFI were positively correlated. Conclusions In CHB immune active phase, the activity of peripheral blood NK cells was too weak to remove the virus, but NK cells play an important role in eliminating the viruses and mediating liver tissue inflammation in AHB.