Objective To establish a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay to detect HBV DNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) of chronic HB patients. Methods One pair of primer amplifying HBV genome DNA and another pair of primer amplifying HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA ) were added to one PCR reaction to detect HBV DNA in PBMCs. Results Various forms of HBVDNA including total DNA and cccDNA could be amplified simultaneously. Among the 30 chronic HB patients, both the HBVDNA and HBVcccDNA in the PBMCs of 23 patients were detected, the positive rate of which was 76.6%. The positive rate of HBV cccDNA accounted for 82.1% of total HBV DNA positive rate. Conclusion HBVDNA in the PBMCs could partially replicate. The M-PCR was successfully set up to amplify HBV genome DNA and HBV cccDNA simultaneously.

Objective To investigate the relationship of high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6)and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R)with the severity of clinical symptoms and coronary artery lesions in coronary heart disease (CHD)patients.Methods A total of 522 CHD patients were recruited and divided into three groups:stable angina pectoris (SAP),unstable angina pectoris (UAP)and acute myocardial infarction (AMI)groups.Another 102 healthy individuals served as normal controls (NCs).We calculated Gensini score according to the result of coronary angiography (CAG),collected clinical data and compared the groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship of hs-CRP,IL-6 and sIL-6 R with Gensini score.Results The plasma hs-CRP,IL-6 levels were significantly higher and sIL-6R level was signficantly lower in SAP,UAP and AMI groups than in NC group (P<0 .0 5 ).There was a positive correlation between IL-6 level and Gensini score but a negative correlation between sIL-6 R and Gensini score presented by multiple linear regression analysis (P<0.05 ).Conclusion In CHD patients,plasma hs-CRP,IL-6 and sIL-6R levels are significantly related to the severity of clinical manifestations and coronary artery stenosis.These indicators may help predict the severity of CHD.

Objective To explore the association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level at admission and coronary plaque characteristics under intravenous ultrasound (IVUS) study in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Methods 118 patients with NSTE-ACS were divided into the low(HbA1c ≤ 5.6％), medium(HbA1c 5.7％-6.4％)and high(HbA1c ≥ 6.5％)level groups based on admission HbA1c. IVUS was performed in all target lesions. Results As compared with the other two groups, patients with high level HbA1c had higher mean body weight index, higher co-morbidities of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and non-ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction.The high HbA1c level group had more diffuse coronary atherosclerosis ,increased plaque burden and higher rates of positive remodeling, soft plaque and plaque rupture. Conculsions The HbAlc level of admission is associated with plaque vulnerability in NSTE-ACS patients.

BACKGROUND: Patches, powders and hydrogels fabricated from extracellular matrix and its components can be used as scaffolds, along with a variety of stem cells and their derivatives, to construct biomimetic engineered cardiac tissue. OBJECTIVE: To review research progress in construction of biomimetic engineered cardiac tissue based on extracellular matrix. METHODS: We searched the articles in Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed databases with the key words of “the extracellular matrix; engineered cardiac tissue; cardiomyocyte; biomimetic; stem cell” in English. Eventually 64 articles were included for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with the traditional synthetic materials, the extracellular matrix has good biocompatibility and cell affinity, which can provide seed cells with the closest living environment, and is conducive to the growth, differentiation and maturation of seed cells. A great number of research evidences suggest that the biomimetic engineered cardiac tissue based on extracellular matrix and stem cells has the characteristics of excitability, contractility and conductivity similar to the natural myocardial tissue. It also can repair the damaged myocardium, reshape the microvascular system and effectively improve cardiac function, showing the potential to treat cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. However, there are still some problems in the construction of biomimetic engineered cardiac tissue based on extracellular matrix, such as the structural damage during decellularization, the relatively slow development of seed cell morphology and function.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L ) and lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2 ) in the assessment of coronary artery severity and risk classification in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).Methods Of the 9 6 patients with coronary heart disease diagnosed by coronary angiography,2 8 patients had stable angina pectoris (SAP),38 patients unstable angina pectoris (UAP)and 30 patients acute non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).Another 30 patients with non-coronary heart disease (NC)served as controls.The sCD40L and Lp-PLA2 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA)method.The Gensini score was used to assess the severity of coronary artery and analyze the correlation with sCD40L and Lp-PLA2.The correlation of sCD40L and Lp-PLA2 with GRACE risk score was analyzed too.Results ① sCD40L was significantly higher in NSTEMI and UAP groups than in SAP and NC groups (P<0 .0 5 ),but there was no significant difference between NSTEMI and UAP groups (P>0 .0 5 )or SAP and NC groups (P>0 .0 5 ).Lp-PLA2 was significantly higher in NSTEMI group than in UAP,SAP and NC groups (P<0.05).Lp-PLA2 was significantly higher in UAP group than in SAP and NC groups (P<0.05).② We found that sCD40L had obvious correlation with Lp-PLA2 (r=0.284, P<0.01),Gensini score (r=0.213,P<0.05),and GRACE (r=0.224,P<0.05).Lp-PLA2 was significantly correlated with Gensini score (r=0.270,P<0.05),and GRACE (r=0.323,P<0.01).③ Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Lp-PLA2 was independently associated with NSTE-ACS (P<0.05).Conclusion The sCD40L and Lp-PLA2 which were significantly elevated in NSTE-ACS are correlated with the severity of coronary artery disease.The two indexes indicate the instability of atherosclerotic plaque;thus they can be used as predictors of risk assessment in coronary heart disease.

Objective:To investigate the value of a preoperatively MRI-based deep learning (DL) radiomics machine learning model to distinguish low-grade and high-grade soft tissue sarcomas (STS).Methods:From November 2007 to May 2019, 151 patients with STS confirmed by pathology in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were enrolled as training sets, and 131 patients in the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University were enrolled as external validation sets. According to the French Federation Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer classification (FNCLCC) system, 161 patients with FNCLCC grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ were defined as low-grade and 121 patients with grade Ⅲ were defined as high-grade. The hand-crafted radiomic (HCR) and DL radiomic features of the lesions were extracted respectively. Based on HCR features, DL features, and HCR-DL combined features, respectively, three machine-learning models were established by decision tree, logistic regression, and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the performance of each machine learning model and choose the best one. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to establish a clinical-imaging factors model based on demographics and MRI findings. The nomogram was established by combining the optimal radiomics model and the clinical-imaging model. The AUC was used to evaluate the performance of each model and the DeLong test was used for comparison of AUC between every two models. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test were used to evaluate the performance of the optimal machine learning model in the risk stratification of progression free survival (PFS) in STS patients.Results:The SVM radiomics model based on HCR-DL combined features had the optimal predicting power with AUC values of 0.931(95%CI 0.889-0.973) in the training set and 0.951 (95%CI 0.904-0.997) in the validation set. The AUC values of the clinical-imaging model were 0.795 (95%CI 0.724-0.867) and 0.615 (95%CI 0.510-0.720), and of the nomogram was 0.875 (95%CI 0.818-0.932) and 0.786 (95%CI 0.701-0.872) in the training and validation sets, respectively. In validation set, the performance of SVM radiomics model was better than those of the nomogram and clinical-imaging models ( Z=3.16, 6.07; P=0.002,<0.001). Using the optimal radiomics model, there was statistically significant in PFS between the high and low risk groups of STS patients (training sets: χ2=43.50, P<0.001; validation sets: χ2=70.50, P<0.001). Conclusion:Preoperative MRI-based DL radiomics machine learning model has accurate prediction performance in differentiating the histopathological grading of STS. The SVM radiomics model based on HCR-DL combined features has the optimal predicting power and was expected to undergo risk stratification of prognosis in STS patients.

Objective To compare the diagnostic performance of a multi-marker panel(copeptin,cardiac troponin T[cTnT],and heart-type fatty acid-binding protein[HFABP])with the single marker cTnT in the diagnosis of type 4a acute myocardial infarction(AMI),and explore the application value of combined detectionmodel with the multiple markers.Methods The enrolled non-AMI pa-tients underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)at Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital during the period from March to December 2022 and were assessed as postoperative elevation of cTnT above the 99th percentile upper reference limit(URL).According to the Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction,the patients were divided into non-type 4a AMI group and type 4a AMI group based on whether type 4a AMI occurred after surgery.The concentrations of AMI biomarkers were meas-ured using a chemiluminescent immuno-gold nanoassembly immunosensor array(chemiluminescent immuno-Gold,ciGold).Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were used to analyze the performance of the diagnostic models with single and combined cardiac biomarkers.The sensitivity and specificity were also obtained from the ROC curves,and the area under the ROC curve(AUCROC)was calculated to evaluate respective diagnostic value.Kappa analysis was used to assess the consistency between the results combined de-tection model of multiple biomarkers and the diagnosis based on the Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction.Results In this study,a total of 65 patients were included in whom females accounted for 23.1％.The ROC curve indicated that the combined de-tection model of multiple cardiac biomarkers showed specificity of 96.5％,sensitivity of 92.3％,agreement rate of 94.6％,positive pre-dictive value of 92.3％,negative predictive value of 96.2％,and AUCROC of 0.979.The single cTnT diagnostic model showed specificity of 94.2％,sensitivity of 100％,agreement rate of 95.7％,positive predictive value of 100％,negative predictive value of 94.9％,and AUCROC of 0.987.Although the combined detection model of multiple biomarkers had lower sensitivity(P=0.011),it showed higher specificity(P=0.016).The analysis of AUCROC differences between the two diagnostic models showed P＞0.05,indicating no signifi-cantly statistical difference for the diagnostic accuracy.Kappa analysis demonstrated a strong consistency between the combined detec-tion model of multiple cardiac biomarkers and the diagnosis of type 4a AMI based on the Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial In-farction with a Cohen's Kappa coefficient of 0.818.Conclusion The multi-marker combined detection model showed similar perform-ance of cTnT in diagnos of type 4a AMI with strong diagnostic consistency.However,the combined detection model exhibited an advan-tage of higher specificity.

Objective:To explore the clinical effects of a 3D-printed intracranial pressure balancing device in preventing complications after suboccipital craniectomy (DC).Methods:This study is a retrospective cohort analysis. The clinical data of 35 patients who underwent DC at Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, from September 2020 to September 2023 were reviewed. The cohort included 24 males and 11 females, with an age of (48.7±14.9) years (range:17 to 74 years). Nineteen patients (experimental group) received the intracranial pressure balancing device fixed to the bone defect site post-DC. This device was made using medical-grade dicyanamide resin and was three dimensional printed based on postoperative CT scans of the patients. The remaining 16 patients (control group) did not receive the intracranial pressure balancing device, while other treatments and procedures were consistent with the experimental group. Data were compared using the χ2 test or Fisher′s exact probability method. Results:Out of the 35 patients, 30 cases (85.7%) experienced complications following DC. Specific complications included cerebral infarction in 3 cases (8.6%), intracerebral hemorrhage in 1 case (2.9%), subdural effusion in 27 cases (77.1%) with a median onset of (8.8±6.5) days (range: 1 to 23 days), brain tissue protrusion in 15 cases (42.9%) with a median onset of ( M(IQR)) 7.0 (21.0) days (range:2 to 106 days), and hydrocephalus in 6 cases (17.14%) with a median onset of 34.5 (111.0) days (range: 22 to 136 days). There were no significant differences in the occurrence of complications(all P>0.05). However, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of subdural effusion in the experimental group prior to cranioplasty ( P=0.013). No significant differences were noted in mRS scores between the two groups after cranioplasty ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The intracranial pressure balancing device has the effect of prevention and treatment of subdural effusion. However, it did not significantly improve patient prognosis post-DC, warranting further investigation.

Objective:To explore the clinical effects of a 3D-printed intracranial pressure balancing device in preventing complications after suboccipital craniectomy (DC).Methods:This study is a retrospective cohort analysis. The clinical data of 35 patients who underwent DC at Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, from September 2020 to September 2023 were reviewed. The cohort included 24 males and 11 females, with an age of (48.7±14.9) years (range:17 to 74 years). Nineteen patients (experimental group) received the intracranial pressure balancing device fixed to the bone defect site post-DC. This device was made using medical-grade dicyanamide resin and was three dimensional printed based on postoperative CT scans of the patients. The remaining 16 patients (control group) did not receive the intracranial pressure balancing device, while other treatments and procedures were consistent with the experimental group. Data were compared using the χ2 test or Fisher′s exact probability method. Results:Out of the 35 patients, 30 cases (85.7%) experienced complications following DC. Specific complications included cerebral infarction in 3 cases (8.6%), intracerebral hemorrhage in 1 case (2.9%), subdural effusion in 27 cases (77.1%) with a median onset of (8.8±6.5) days (range: 1 to 23 days), brain tissue protrusion in 15 cases (42.9%) with a median onset of ( M(IQR)) 7.0 (21.0) days (range:2 to 106 days), and hydrocephalus in 6 cases (17.14%) with a median onset of 34.5 (111.0) days (range: 22 to 136 days). There were no significant differences in the occurrence of complications(all P>0.05). However, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of subdural effusion in the experimental group prior to cranioplasty ( P=0.013). No significant differences were noted in mRS scores between the two groups after cranioplasty ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The intracranial pressure balancing device has the effect of prevention and treatment of subdural effusion. However, it did not significantly improve patient prognosis post-DC, warranting further investigation.

Genetically engineered intestinal microbes could be powerful tools to detect and treat intestine inflammation due to their non-invasive character, low costs, and convenience. Intestinal inflammation is usually detected along with an increasing concentration of thiosulfate and tetrathionate molecules in the intestines. ThsSR and TtrSR are two-component biosensors to detect the presence of thiosulfate and tetrathionate molecules, respectively. In real-life intestinal inflammation detection, sophisticated instruments are needed if using fluorescent proteins as reporters. However, chromoproteins and other colored small molecules, which can be seen by the unaided eye, could extend the use of ThsSR and TtrSR biosensors to detect intestine inflammation. The feasibility of ThsSR and TtrSR systems was tested by monitoring the fluorescence intensity of sfGFP in response to the concentration of thiosulfate and tetrathionate, followed by the incorporation of the two systems into Escherichia coli Top10 and E. coli Nissle 1917. The potential for the real-life application of the two systems was further corroborated by substituting sfGFP with a series of chromoproteins and a protoviolaceinic acid synthesis cassette as reporter genes. The results indicated that signal expression of the new systems had a positive correlation with the concentration of tetrathionate and thiosulfate molecules. Thus, the modified ThsSR and TtrSR system may potentially be applied in the human body for the detection of intestinal inflammation.
Escherichia coli ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Intestines ; Thiosulfates