Objective To evaluate the validity of narrow-band imaging (NBI) system in detection of colorectal adenoma, as compared to that of endoscopy of the colon and rectum, in a systematic review. Methods Relevant literatures were retrieved from Medline (January 1966 to October 2008), OVID (January 1996 to October 2008), EMBASE (January 1980 to October 2008), Coehrane Library (Issue 3, 2008) and Chinese Biological Medicine Disk (CBM disk, January 1997 to October 2008). Quality of the literatures retrieved was assessed based on the Cochrane Reviewers' Handbook and Jadad's score. RevMan version 4. 2 software was used for meta-analysis. Results Seven randomized clinical trials (2838 patients) were included in the study. Compared with white-light colonoscopy, no significant difference was observed in terms of adenoma detection rate (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.00-1.39, P=0.06) by NBI system, which could significantly improve total number of detection for fiat lesions of the colon and rectum (pooled WMD 0.14, 95% CI 0.02-0.26, P=0.02), but with a longer withdrawn time (pooled WMD 1.05, 95% CI 0.08-1.22, P<0.01). Conclusions Detection rate for flat lesions of the colon and rectum, not for adenoma, can be improved by NBI system and meanwhile its withdrawn time is prolonged, indicating that routine use of NBI system for detecting colorectal adenomas may be recommended only with its further refined technique.

Objective:To examine differences in metabolic characteristics and metabolites between elderly overweight patients with metabolic syndrome and healthy elderly people, and to identify related factors.Methods:A group of 36 MS patients(the MS group)admitted to The Fourth Central Hospital of Tianjin from April to August 2018 and 43 elderly people(the control group)who underwent physical examination during the same period were included in this prospective study.Serum samples of the patients with metabolic syndrome and elderly healthy controls were collected, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF/MS)based non-targeted metabolomics was used to search for differences in metabolites between the serum samples of the two groups.The Pearson correlation statistical method was used to find related clinical factors.Results:Comparison of baseline data of the enrolled participants showed that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups in body mass index[(26.9±2.0)kg/m 2vs.(21.7±1.4)kg/m 2], waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol( P<0.01). Metabolomics results showed that there were differences in 65 serum metabolites between elderly overweight patients with metabolic syndrome and elderly normal controls, and these differences were enriched in 21 pathways.Correlation analysis showed that waist circumference had the largest number of differential metabolites, followed by body mass index.The major differential metabolites were monosaccharides such as mannose, lyxose and glucose, linolenic acid and its derivatives, and pyroglutamate. Conclusions:Compared with normal elderly people, elderly patients with overweight metabolic syndrome have a variety of differential metabolites, and these metabolites are highly correlated with clinical indicators related to overweight, such as body mass index and waist circumference, and they include monosaccharides, linolenic acid derivatives and amino acids.

Objective To investigate the effect of Berberine on insulin resistance and its mechanism in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty(OLETF) rats with metabolic syndrome(MS).Methods LETO(Long-evans Tokushima Otsuka)rats(the control group receiving standard normal diet,n=10)and diabetic OLETF rats(the MS group receiving high-fat diet for 24 weeks,n=30).Rats in the MS group were randomly divided into 3 subgroups(n=10,each subgroup).Each subgroup was gavaged with normal saline,high-dose Berberine(100 mg · kg-1 · d-1)and low-dose Berberine (50 mg · kg-1 · d-1) respectively,and the high-fat diet remained unchanged.After 6 weeks of berberine treatment,body weight,blood glucose and lipid metabolism parameters were determined.The oral glucose tolerance test(OGTT) and insulin tolerance test(ITT) were used to detect insulin resistance.Expression levels of the protein and mRNA of 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP7 8),Caspase-12 and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein(C/EBP) homologous protein(CHOP) in skeletal muscles were detected by Western blot and RT-PCR.Results After Berberine treatment,the body weight,fasting plasma glucose,fasting insulin[(28.9 ± 2.0) mU/L,(31.5± 2.4) mU/L vs.(36.9 ± 4.7) mU/L],total cholesterol,triglycerides,and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased,while the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) levels were increased in MS rats with high-dose berberine and low-dose berberine as compared with the control group (P ＜ 0.05) respectively.Berberine treatment could reduce the protein and mRNA expression levels of GRP78,Capase-12 and CHOP in the skeletal muscle of MS rats(P＜0.05).Conclusions Berberine may alleviate insulin resistance in rats with metabolic syndrome by reducing endoplasmic reticulum stress in skeletal muscle.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of TCM constitution distribution in hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with dysplastic nodules(DN),and to provide a basis for the prevention and treatment of precancerous lesions of liver cancer.Methods This study was conducted among 113 hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with DN,105 hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with regenerative nodules(RN),and 70 hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma(sHCC)who were hospitalized in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2015 to March 2023.Related data were collected,including age,sex,liver function Child-Pugh class,TCM constitution type,and laboratory markers.A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups,and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups;the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups;the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups,and the Bonferroni correction method was used for further comparison between two groups.Results The main TCM constitution types of hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with DN were Qi-deficiency constitution(27 patients,23.89%),blood-stasis constitution(26 patients,23.01%),and phlegm-dampness constitution(23 patients,20.35%).There were significant differences between the three groups in the proportion of patients with phlegm-dampness constitution or damp-heat constitution(χ2=6.822 and 6.383,both P<0.05);the hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with RN had the highest proportion of patients with phlegm-dampness constitution(30.48%),followed by those with DN(20.35%)and those with sHCC(14.29%),while the hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with sHCC had the highest proportion of patients with damp-heat constitution(27.14%),followed by those with DN(16.81%)and those with RN(12.38%).There were significant differences between the hepatitis B cirrhosis DN patients with different TCM constitution types in sex,age,Child-Pugh class,prealbumin,albumin(Alb),aspartate aminotransferase,total bilirubin(TBil),total bile acid,and alpha-fetoprotein(all P<0.05).Compared with the male hepatitis B cirrhosis DN patients,female patients showed a significantly higher proportion of patients with Qi-deficiency constitution(χ2=4.895,P=0.027).Among the patients with Qi-deficiency constitution,the patients with Child-Pugh class A liver function accounted for a significantly lower proportion than those with Child-Pugh class B liver function(χ2=6.380,P=0.012),while among the patients with phlegm-dampness constitution,the patients with Child-Pugh class A liver function accounted for a significantly higher proportion than those with Child-Pugh class B liver function(χ2=8.515,P=0.004).The patients with phlegm-dampness constitution had significantly higher levels of prealbumin and Alb than those with the other four constitutions(all P<0.05),as well as significantly lower levels of TBil and total bile acid than those with damp-heat constitution(P<0.05);the patients with Yin-deficiency constitution had a significantly lower level of Alb than those with qi-deficiency constitution,blood-stasis constitution,or phlegm-dampness constitution(all P<0.05);the patients with Yin-deficiency constitution had a significantly lower proportion of patients with abnormal alpha-fetoprotein than those with non-Yin-deficiency constitutions(χ2=4.448,P=0.035).Conclusion Hepatitis B cirrhosis patients with DN mainly have the TCM constitution types of Qi deficiency,blood stasis,and phlegm dampness.The patients with phlegm-dampness constitution seem to have a low probability of carcinogenesis,while those with damp-heat constitution and Yin-deficiency constitution have a relatively high risk of carcinogenesis.

Objective:To investigate the postoperative prosthesis position and early clinical efficacy of 3D printing patient-specific instrumentation (PSI)-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).Methods:The clinical data of 15 patients (17 knees, PSI group) with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis who underwent PSI-assisted UKA in the Second Affiliated Hospital, the Air Force Medical University from May to August 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, matched with fifteen patients (17 knees, non-PSI group) with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis undergoing conventional UKA. The differences in the prosthesis placement positions in the postoperative X-ray films between the two groups were compared, including the coronal varus-valgus angles of the tibial and femoral prostheses, the sagittal posterior inclination angle of the tibial prosthesis, the flexion-extension angle of the femoral prosthesis, and the height of the reconstructed joint line. The indicators related to the lower limb alignment (including the femoral valgus angle, the lateral femoral angle, the hip-knee-ankle angle, and the femur-tibia angle) and the range of motion of the knee joint before and after the operation were compared. The Oxford knee score (OKS), American Knee Society (AKS) knee score and function score, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the clinical effects of the two groups.Results:In the PSI group, the coronal varus-valgus angle of the tibial prosthesis was 1.6°±0.3° after the operation, and the sagittal posterior inclination angle was 5.7°±0.8°. The coronal varus-valgus angle of the femoral prosthesis was -0.5°±1.5°, and the sagittal flexion-extension angle was 4.0°±1.9°. In the non-PSI group, the corresponding angles were 2.3°±0.6°, 4.5°±1.0°, 1.4°±1.5°, and 7.3°±2.2° respectively with significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.05). The OKS of the PSI group before and after the operation were 26.5±1.8 and 38.6±4.1 points respectively. The AKS knee score were 56.9±8.6 and 89.2±7.2 points. The AKS function score were 70.1±4.2 and 77.5±9.4 points. The VAS were 4.5±3.7 and 2.3±0.3 points, and the range of motion of the knee joint were 115.2°±4.8° and 125.9°±4.6° with significant differences ( P<0.05). The OKS of the non-PSI group before and after the operation were 25.3±6.2 and 38.2±3.5 points respectively. The AKS knee score were 50.6±9.3 and 84.5±6.6 points. The AKS function score were 73.4±3.9 and 77.2±4.8 points. The VAS were 5.8±2.4 and 2.5±1.6 points, and the range of motion of the knee joint were 113.6°±6.7° and 122.3°±5.0° with significant differences ( P<0.05). There were inter-group differences in the AKS knee score and the range of motion of the knee joint after the operation between the two groups with significant differences ( P<0.05). Conclusion:PSI guides-assisted UKA can effectively correct the lower limb alignment of patients and improve knee joint function with good short-term efficacy. Compared with conventional UKA, PSI guides-assisted UKA is less time-consuming with higher precision in prosthesis installation position and fewer post-operative complications.

In order to develop clinical diagnostic tools for rapid detection of the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus) and to identify candidate proteins for vaccine development, the C-terminal portion of the nucleocapsid (NC) gene was amplified using RT-PCR from the SARS-CoV genome, cloned into a yeast expression vector (pEGH), and expressed as a glutathione S-transferase (GST) and Hisx6 double-tagged fusion protein under the control of an inducible promoter. Western analysis on the purified protein confirmed the expression and purification of the NC fusion proteins from yeast. To determine its antigenicity, the fusion protein was challenged with serum samples from SARS patients and normal controls. The NC fusion protein demonstrated high antigenicity with high specificity, and therefore, it should have great potential in designing clinical diagnostic tools and provide useful information for vaccine development.
Antigens, Viral ; immunology ; Cloning, Molecular ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Genetic Vectors ; Genome, Viral ; Humans ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; immunology ; Yeasts ; genetics

We report a complete genomic sequence of rare isolates (minor genotype) of the SARS-CoV from SARS patients in Guangdong, China, where the first few cases emerged. The most striking discovery from the isolate is an extra 29-nucleotide sequence located at the nucleotide positions between 27,863 and 27,864 (referred to the complete sequence of BJ01) within an overlapped region composed of BGI-PUP5 (BGI-postulated uncharacterized protein 5) and BGI-PUP6 upstream of the N (nucleocapsid) protein. The discovery of this minor genotype, GD-Ins29, suggests a significant genetic event and differentiates it from the previously reported genotype, the dominant form among all sequenced SARS-CoV isolates. A 17-nt segment of this extra sequence is identical to a segment of the same size in two human mRNA sequences that may interfere with viral replication and transcription in the cytosol of the infected cells. It provides a new avenue for the exploration of the virus-host interaction in viral evolution, host pathogenesis, and vaccine development.
Base Sequence ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; Gene Components ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Genotype ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; genetics

ObjectiveTo investigate the value of different noninvasive diagnostic models in the diagnosis of esophageal and gastric varices since there is a high risk of esophageal and gastric varices in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis and significant portal hypertension， and to provide a basis for the early diagnosis of esophageal and gastric varices. MethodsA total of 108 patients with significant portal hypertension due to compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis who attended Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 2017 to November 2023 were enrolled， and according to the presence or absence of esophageal and gastric varices under gastroscopy， they were divided into esophageal and gastric varices group （GOV group） and non-esophageal and gastric varices group （NGOV group）. Related data were collected， including age， sex， imaging findings， and laboratory markers. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups； the least significant difference t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups， and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups. The receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of five scoring models， i.e.， fibrosis-4 （FIB-4）， LOK index， LPRI， aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index （APRI）， and aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio （AAR）. The binary logistic regression method was used to establish a combined model， and the area under the ROC curve （AUC） was compared between the combined model and each scoring model used alone. The Delong test was used to compare the AUC value between any two noninvasive diagnostic models. ResultsThere were 55 patients in the GOV group and 53 patients in the NGOV group. Compared with the NGOV group， the GOV group had a significantly higher age （52.64±1.44 years vs 47.96±1.68 years， t=0.453， P<0.05） and significantly lower levels of alanine aminotransferase ［42.00 （24.00 — 17.00） U/L vs 82.00 （46.00 — 271.00） U/L， Z=-3.065， P<0.05］， aspartate aminotransferase ［44.00 （32.00 — 96.00） U/L vs 62.00 （42.50 — 154.50） U/L，Z=-2.351， P<0.05］， and platelet count ［100.00 （69.00 — 120.00）×10⁹/L vs 119.00 （108.50 — 140.50）×10⁹/L， Z=-3.667， P<0.05］. The ROC curve analysis showed that FIB-4， LOK index， LPRI， and AAR used alone had an accuracy of 0.667， 0.681， 0.730， and 0.639， respectively， in the diagnosis of esophageal and gastric varices （all P<0.05）， and the positive diagnostic rates of GOV were 69.97%， 65.28%， 67.33%， and 58.86%， respectively， with no significant differences in AUC values （all P>0.05）， while APRI used alone had no diagnostic value （P>0.05）. A combined model （LAF） was established based on the binary logistic regression analysis and had an AUC of 0.805 and a positive diagnostic rate of GOV of 75.80%， with a significantly higher AUC than FIB-4， LOK index， LPRI， and AAR used alone （Z=-2.773，-2.479，-2.206， and-2.672， all P<0.05）. ConclusionFIB-4， LOK index， LPRI， and AAR have a similar diagnostic value for esophageal and gastric varices in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis and significant portal hypertension， and APRI alone has no diagnostic value. The combined model LAF had the best diagnostic efficacy， which provides a certain reference for clinical promotion and application.

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a destructive pest native to America and has recently become an invasive insect pest in China. Because of its rapid spread and great risks in China, understanding of FAW genetic background and pesticide resistance is urgent and essential to develop effective management strategies. Here, we assembled a chromosome-level genome of a male FAW (SFynMstLFR) and compared re-sequencing results of the populations from America, Africa, and China. Strain identification of 163 individuals collected from America, Africa and China showed that both C and R strains were found in the American populations, while only C strain was found in the Chinese and African populations. Moreover, population genomics analysis showed that populations from Africa and China have close relationship with significantly genetic differentiation from American populations. Taken together, FAWs invaded into China were most likely originated from Africa. Comparative genomics analysis displayed that the cytochrome p450 gene family is extremely expanded to 425 members in FAW, of which 283 genes are specific to FAW. Treatments of Chinese populations with twenty-three pesticides showed the variant patterns of transcriptome profiles, and several detoxification genes such as AOX, UGT and GST specially responded to the pesticides. These findings will be useful in developing effective strategies for management of FAW in China and other invaded areas.
Animals ; China ; Genomics ; Humans ; Male ; Pesticides ; Spodoptera/genetics* ; Transcriptome