OBJECTIVETo study the effect of acupuncture on the immune function of patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

METHODSSixty cases with colorectal cancer liver metastasis confirmed by pathology and mageology diagnosis were treated with acupuncture. Zusanli (ST 36), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Neiguan (PC 6), Shangjuxu (ST 37), Hegu (LI 4), Taixi (KI 3), Taichong (LR 3) ,Yinlingquan (SP 9), Yanglingquan (GB 34), etc. were selected for acupuncture, and Shenque (CV 8), Guanyuan (CV 4), Qihai (CV 6), Zusanli (ST 36) were selected for moxibustion. The changes of CD(3) , CD(4) , CD(8) T cells and NK cells in value were examined with flow cytometry before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe value of T lymphocyte subsets such as CD(3) , CD(4), and CD(8) , as well as NK cells were obviously increased after treatment, and there were significant differences between them before and after treatment.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can improve the immune function of patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Leukocyte Count ; Liver Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; secondary ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology

Objective To explore the relationship between T lymphocyte subsets and both glioma malignancy and its prognosis, and determine a clinical immunologic index for evaluating preoperative glioma malignancy and its prognosis. Methods The data of 117 inpatients with primary intracranial tumors, including glioma (n=85) and meningioma (n=32), were retrospectively analyzed. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis was performed to detect the preoperative contents of T lymphocyte subsets on 32 patients with meningioma and patients with glioma, including 45 high-grade glioma (WHO, grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ) and 40 low-grade glioma (WHO, grade Ⅰ -Ⅱ); and then the differences of their immunologic indexes were analyzed. Based on the detection result of T lymphocyte subsets, patients with glioma were divided into two groups: CD4~+CD8~+<1 and CD4~+CD8~+>1. Follow-up for 3-5 years was performed and the survival difference of these two groups was analyzed. Results Patients with high-grade glioma showed a decreased ratio of CD4~+CD8~+ and an increased value of CD8~+ with significant difference as compared with patients with low-grade glioma (P<0.05); patients with high-grade glioma showed a decreased ratio of CD4~+CD8~+, and an increased value of CD8~+ with statistical significance compared with patients with meningioma (P <0.05); patients with low-grade glioma showed a decreased ratio of CD4~+CD8~+ with statistical significance compared with the patients with meningioma (P<0.05). Patients with glioma showed a decreased ratio of CD4~+CD8~+ and CD4~+, and an increased CD8~+ with statistical significance compared with patients with meningioma (P<0.05). After follow-up for 3-5 years, 48 patients with glioma was found in the CD4~+CD8~+>1 group with 21 death (43.8%) and 31 months as a median survival time; 37 patients with glioma was found in the CD4~+CD8~+<1 group with 23 death (62.2%) and 16 months as a median survival time. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves were analyzed with statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion The prognosis is poor in patients with low ratio of CD4~+CD8~+. The preoperative level of T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood, correlated to the glioma malignancy, can be considered as an index to evaluate the glioma malignancy and the prognosis in patients with glioma.

OBJECTIVETo study in vivo mercury absorption and accumulation through repeated transdermal administration of Yuhong ointment containing calomel, in order to provide scientific evidences for clinical safe medication.

METHODA total of 100 SD rats were randomly classified into five groups: the control group, the Yuhong ointment group, the double-concentration Yuhong Ointment group, the quadruple-concentration Yuhong ointment group and the 1.6% calomel group. The rats were treated with the dosage of 0.04 g . cm-2 by repeated transdermal administration for 2, 4 weeks. After the drug discontinuance for 4 weeks, the levels of mercury in blood, urine, and tissues of heart, liver, brain and kidney were determined, respectively.

RESULTCompared with the control group, the blood mercury level of the Yuhong ointment group show no obvious change after treatment for 4 weeks. However, the levels of mercury in blood and urine of other experimental groups increased significantly with time and the increase in dosage, and so did the level of mercury in major organ. At 4 weeks, all experimental groups showed increase in the content of mercury, and kidneys displayed the highest level, whereas brain displayed the lowest level After the drug discontinuance for 4 weeks, the mercury level in blood and urine of every dose group recovered to normal, with significant decline in the content of mercury in each organ.

CONCLUSIONAfter transdermal administration in rats for 4 weeks, there was no obvious absorption of mercury in blood. Mercury was mainly accumulated in kidneys and excreted through urine. The results suggest that the patients' mercury content and kidney function indexes need to be monitored in long-term clinical use of Yuhong ointment.

Absorption ; drug effects ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Female ; Male ; Mercury ; analysis ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; urine ; Ointments ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Safety ; Time Factors

Objective To explore whether aggressive treatment of primary focus can benefit nonsmall cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients with synchronous brain metastasis,and search the appropriate treatment protocols.Methods The clinical data of 19 NSCLC patients with synchronous brain metastasis,received treatment at our Cancer Center from January 2000 to January 2009,were reviewed; their treatments and survival statuses were analyzed.Results Median survival time of these patients was 14.5 months; the 1-year survival rate was 52.6％,and 2-year survival rate was 17.5％.Patients had different survival rates when different treatments were given to the primary focus,and significant difference was noted(x2=10.532,P=0.005); after neurosurgical intervention,patients underwent thoracic operation and chemotherapy(24.9 months)had a significantly longer survival time than those underwent chemotherapy(14.5 months)or palliative therapy(5.4 months,P＜0.05).The survival time of patients with single metastases was 16.3 months,and that of those with multiple metastases was 5.4 months; and significant difference was noted between them(P＜0.05).Conclusion Aggressive therapy including neurosurgical intervention,pulmonary resection and chemotherapy should be recommended for NSCLC patients with synchronous brain metastasis,especially those with single brain metastasis.

Objective To explore the clinical features and risk factors of poor prognosis in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC).Methods A retrospective study was carried out in the infants with NEC admitted to 6 cooperative hospitals in Guangdong Province between January 2005 and December 2014.The clinical features and risk factors of poor prognosis in preterm and full-term infants diagnosed NEC,early onset and late onset NEC were analyzed.Results A total of 449 cases who met the criteria were admitted during the study time.The mortality was 23.6％ (106/449 cases),of which the preterm group was 24.6％ (58/238 cases) while the full-term group was 22.7％ (48/211 cases),the early onset group was 22.1％ (45/204 cases) while the late onset group was 24.3％ (57/235 cases).The median number of NEC onset in preterm group was 11 d after birth while the number of the full-term group was 6 d.Full-term infants who diagnosed NEC were more likely to manifest themselves as abdominal distension (52.1％ vs.42.0％,x2 =4.597,P =0.032),vomiting(36.5％ vs.17.2％,x2 =21.428,P =0.000) and bloody stool(30.3％ vs.21.4％,x2 =4.653,P =0.031);but in the onset of NEC,preterm infants more likely to have feeding intolerance (21.0％ vs.12.8％,x2=5.309,P =0.021).The early onset group of full-term NEC was much common in twins or multiplets(9.4％ vs.1.1％,x2 =6.226,P =0.013),which rate of surgical therapy was much higher (41.0％ vs.27.0％,P =0.036) and the breast-feeding rate before NEC was lower than the late onset group(14.5％ vs.32.6％,x2 =9.500,P =0.002),the differences were statistically significant.The gestational age and birth weight were bigger in the early onset group of preterm NEC[(33.8 ±2.5) weeks vs.(32.2 ±2.8) weeks,t =4.261,P =0.000;(2.1 ±0.5) kg vs.(1.7 ± 0.5) kg,t =4.735,P =0.000)],but length of stay was shorter than the late onset group (18.0 d vs.26.5 d,P =0.000).Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of poor prognosis of full-term NEC were shock,peritonitis and sepsis;while risk factors of poor prognosis of preterm NEC were small for gestational age infant,pulmonary hemorrhage,shock,intestinal perforation and sepsis;the risk factors of poor prognosis of the early onset group of full-term NEC was shock;while those of the late onset group were shock and peritonitis;the risk factors of poor prognosis in the early onset group of preterm NEC were shock and sepsis,while those in the late onset group were pulmonary hemorrhage,shock,intestinal perforation and sepsis.Conclusions Compared to the preterm NEC,the onset time of full-term NEC was earlier and the clinical manifestations were more typical.Early identification and management of shock,peritonitis,intestinal perforation,sepsis and pulmonary hemorrhage can reduce the risk of poor prognosis of neonate NEC.

Objective To study the composition of gut microbiome in neonates with severe bilinebinemia (serum total bilirubin ＞ 342 μmol/L),and to explore the relationship between gut microbiome and bilirubin brain injury.Methods A prospective study was conducted.The neonates with serum total bilirubin ＞ 342 μmol/L from September 2016 to March 2017 in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center,Guangzhou Medical University,were enrolled in the study and 16S rDNA sequence analysis technology was used to detect the composition of gut microbiome in all subjects.According to the results of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),brain stem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and clinical manifestations,the subjects were divided into the brain injury group (26 cases) and no brain injury group (28 cases).The differences of the composition of gut microbiome between the 2 groups were compared,and the levels of unconjugated bilirubin in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were also compared.Results The level of unconjugated bilirubin in serum of the brain injury group was (463.51 ± 110.62) μmol/L,but in no brain injury group was(364.18 ±63.13) μmol/L,and there was significant difference between the 2 groups(t =4.090,P =0.000 1).The level of unconjugated bilirubin in the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain injury group was (9.53 ± 2.68) μmol/L,but in no brain injury group was (6.94 ± 2.31) μmol/L,and there was significant difference between the 2 groups (t =3.812,P =0.000 3).There was no correlation between the level of unconjugated bilirubin in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum between the 2 groups(r =0.137,0.081,all P ＞0.05).The abundance of gut microbiome in the brain injury group was lower than that in no brain injury group in genus level,among which Fusobacterium,Catabacter,Succinivibrio,Clostridium and Bacteroides were significantly different (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The occurrence of bilirubin brain injury depends on the level of unconjugated bilirubin in serum cerebrospinal fluid,but it may be more directly dependent on the level of bilirubin in the cerebrospinal fluid.The diversity of gut microbiome in neonates with bilirubin brain injury was significantly lower than that in no brain injury group.The level of unconjugated bilirubin in cerebrospinal fluid may be related to the different blood-brain barrier permeability caused by different composition of gut microbiome.

Objective: To analyze the current status, hotspots, and trends in the field of stem cell therapies for periodontal tissue engineering based on bibliometric analysis. Methods : The literature on stem cell therapies for periodontal tissue engineering in animal experiments and clinical studies was searched in the Web of Science core database up to December 31, 2021. The bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature data was carried out by using the "Bibliometrix" package of R language. Results : A total of 304 articles were included, and the number of publications and the citation frequency are increasing. The number of related studies from China ranks first in the world with 166 publications; the institution with the largest number of publications is the Fourth Military Medical University; the author with the largest number of publications is Jin Y; and Tissue Engineering Part A had the most related publications. The hotspots of stem cell therapies for periodontal tissue engineering are mainly focused on tissue engineering and periodontal ligament regeneration, while the frontiers are mainly focused on exosomes, gold nanoparticles, and angiogenesis. Conclusion Research on stem cell therapies for periodontal tissue engineering continues to expand, and the academic influence is gradually increasing. Future research directions should focus on periodontal ligament regeneration, exosomes, gold nanoparticles and angiogenesis.

Objective: To evaluate the bone repair effect of 3D-printed magnesium (Mg)-loaded polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds in a rat skull defect model. Methods: PCL scaffolds mixed with Mg microparticles were prepared by using 3D printing technology, as were pure PCL scaffolds. The surface morphologies of the two scaffolds were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the surface elemental composition was analyzed via energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The physical properties of the scaffolds were characterized through contact angle measurements and an electronic universal testing machine. This study has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee. A critical size defect model was established in the skull of 15 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, which were divided into the PCL group, PCL-Mg group, and untreated group, with 5 rats in each group. Micro-CT scanning was performed to detect and analyze skull defect healing at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery, and samples from the skull defect area and major organs of the rats were obtained for histological staining at 8 weeks after surgery. Results: The scaffolds had a pore size of (480 ± 25) μm, a fiber diameter of (300 ± 25) μm, and a porosity of approximately 66%. The PCL-Mg scaffolds contained 1.0 At% Mg, indicating successful incorporation of Mg microparticles. The contact angle of the PCL-Mg scaffolds was 68.97° ± 1.39°, indicating improved wettability compared to that of pure PCL scaffolds. Additionally, compared with that of pure PCL scaffolds, the compressive modulus of the PCL-Mg scaffolds was (57.37 ± 8.33) MPa, demonstrating enhanced strength. The PCL-Mg group exhibited the best bone formation behavior in the skull defect area compared with the control group and PCL group at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery. Moreover, quantitative parameters, such as bone volume (BV), bone volume/total volume (BV/TV), bone surface (BS), bone surface/total volume (BS/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular number (Tb.N) and bone mineral density (BMD), of skull defects were better than those in the other groups, indicating the best bone regeneration effect. H&E, Goldner, and VG staining revealed more mineralized new bone formation in the PCL-Mg group than in the other groups, and H&E staining of the major organs revealed good biosafety of the material. Conclusion PCL-Mg scaffolds can promote the repair of bone defects and have clinical potential as a new scaffold material for the repair of maxillofacial bone defects.

Objective: To investigate the osteogenic properties of a methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) / bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) composite hydrogel applied to the skull defect area of rats and to provide an experimental basis for the development of bone regeneration biomaterials. Methods: This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University. A novel photocurable composite biohydrogel was developed by constructing photoinitiators [lthium phenyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphinate, LAP], GelMA, and BMSCs. The surface morphology and elemental composition of the gel were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The compressive strength of the gel was evaluated using an electronic universal testing machine. After in vitro culture for 1, 2, and 5 days, the proliferation of the BMSCs in the hydrogels was assessed using a CCK-8 assay, and their survival and morphology were examined through confocal microscopy. A 5 mm critical bone deficiency model was generated in a rat skull. The group receiving composite hydrogel treatment was referred to as the GelMA/BMSCs group, whereas the untreated group served as the control group. At the 4th and 8th weeks, micro-CT scans were taken to measure the bone defect area and new bone index, while at the 8th week, skull samples from the defect area were subjected to H&E staining, van Gieson staining, and Goldner staining to evaluate the quality of bone regeneration and new bone formation. Results: SEM observed that the solidified GelMA showed a 3D spongy gel network with uniform morphology, the porosity of GelMA was 73.41% and the pore size of GelMA was (28.75 ± 7.13) μm. EDX results showed that C and O were evenly distributed in the network macroporous structure of hydrogel. The hydrogel compression strength was 152 kPa. On the 5th day of GelMA/BMSCs culture, the cellular morphology transitioned from oval to spindle shaped under microscopic observation, accompanied by a significant increase in cell proliferation (159.4%, as determined by the CCK-8 assay). At 4 weeks after surgery, a 3D reconstructed micro-CT image revealed a minimal reduction in bone defect size within the control group and abundant new bone formation in the GelMA/BMSCs group. At 8 weeks after surgery, no significant changes were observed in the control group's bone defect area, with only limited evidence of new bone growth; however, substantial healing of skull defects was evident in the GelMA/BMSCs group. Quantitative analysis at both the 4- and 8-week examinations indicated significant improvements in the new bone volume (BV), new bone volume/total bone volume (BV/TV), bone surface (BS), and bone surface/total bone volume (BS/TV) in the GelMA/BMSCs group compared to those in the control group (P<0.05). Histological staining showed continuous and dense formation of bone tissue within the defects in the GelMA/BMSCs group and only sporadic formation of new bone, primarily consisting of fibrous connective tissue, at the defect edge in the control group. Conclusion Photocuring hydrogel-based stem cell therapy exhibits favorable biosafety profiles and has potential for clinical application by inducing new bone formation and promoting maturation within rat skull defects.