Objective To observe the value of speckle-tracking imaging (STI) in evaluation on degree of coronary artery stenosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods Totally 74 CAD patients,including 59 with coronary artery stenosis (coronary artery stenosis group) and 15 without coronary artery stenosis (no coronary artery stenosis group) underwent STI and echocardiography.Based on Gensini scores,the patients in coronary artery stenosis group were further divided into mild,moderate and severe subgroups.The average global longitudinal strain (GLS-Avg),basement global longitudinal strain (GLS-Bas),middle global longitudinal strain (GLS-Mid) and apical global longitudinal strain (GLS-AP) value were measured and compared.Results GLS-Avg,GLS-Bas,GLS-Mid and GLS-AP value in coronary artery stenosis group were lower than those in no coronary artery stenosis group (all P ＜ 0.001).In coronary artery stenosis group,with the increase of stenosis severity,GLS-Avg,GLS-Bas,GLS-Mid and GLS-AP value decreased,and statistical differences were found between each two subgroups (all P＜0.05).In coronary artery stenosis group,there were positive correlations between GLS-Avg,GLS-Bas,GLS-Mid,GLS-AP value and Gensini scores (r=0.861,0.847,0.819 and 0.778,all P＜ 0.05).Conclusion GLS value of STI can reflect the severity of coronary artery stenosis in CAD patients.

Objective To observe the early clinical outcomes of iliotibial band with Gerdy's tubercle transplantation for irreparable rotator cuff tears (IRCT).Methods A total of 16 patients with IRCT who underwent iliotibial band with Gerdy's tubercle transplantation from June 2014 to June 2015 and with a minimum follow-up of 2 years were retrospectively analyzed.There were 4 male and 12 female with a mean age of 56.1±6.6 years old (range 44-67 years old).The X-ray and MRI were used to evaluate the improvement of acromiohumeral interval (AHI),rotator cuff healing and final outcome of bone graft postoperatively.Functional outcomes were assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS),American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon (ASES) and Constant-Murley score.Results The average follow-up duration was 25.3±1.5 months (range 24-48 months).At the final follow-up,the forward flexion,external rotation and internal rotation were 159.37°±8.51°,35.31°±8.26° and 11.00°±2.52°,respectively.There was statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative joint range of motion (P ＜ 0.05).At the 3 months postoperatively,all patients had complete bone union between the Gerdy's tubercle and the greater tubercle.However,at the final followup,partial or complete bone absorption was observed in 6 patients.Twelve patients had complete rotator cuff healing,and 4 patients had partial healing.No patient had rotator cuff retear.The AHI increased significantly from 3.63±1.25 mm preoperatively to 8.37± 1.02 mm postoperatively (P ＜ 0.05).The postoperative VAS,ASES and Constant-Murley score were 1.06±0.93,81.75±6.80 and 77.12± 6.72,respectively.The differences between preoperative and postoperative VAS,ASES and Constant-Murley score were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).There was significant difference in postoperative VAS between bone absorption group and non-absorption group (P ＜ 0.05),while no significant difference was found in ASES or Constant-Murley score (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion All patients had complete or partial rotator cuff healing.However,37.5％ of the patients had bone absorption and obtained a worse VAS score.The iliotibial band with Gerdy's tubercle transplantation for IRCT could significantly restore the joint function at 2 years postoperatively.

Objective:To investigate the expression of Piezo1 in small intestinal mucosal epithelial cells of patients with Crohn′s disease (CD) and its clinical correlation with CD.Methods:From January 1st 2010 to November 30th 2020, the clinical data including age, gender, disease location and biological behavior, etc of 57 patients with CD (CD group) who underwent surgery at The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were retrospectively. And at same time the normal samll intestinal epithelial tissues of 10 healthy individuals who underwent colonoscopy were collected as the healthy control group. The expression of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells of CD patients with different disease sites, biological behavior and disease activity were detected by immunofluorescence staining and hematoxylin-eosin staining. The histological score system and intestinal fibrosis score were used to analyze the inflammation and fibrosis of the intestinal tissues of patients with CD. Semi-quantitative analysis of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells was analyzed by ImageJ software. And the correlation between Piezo1 expression and clinical characteristics and pathological features of small intestine was also analyzed. Independent sample t test and analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. Results:In CD group, there were 37 males (64.9%) and 20 females (35.1%). The age was (39.1±14.2) years old, ranged from 18 to 71 years old, and the average duration of the disease was (26.5±24.1) months. There were 29 cases (50.9%)of ileal type, 26 cases (45.6%) of ileocolonin type and 2 cases (3.5%) of colonic type. There were 12 cases (21.1%) of non-penetrating non-stenotic type, 31 cases (54.4%) of stenotic type and 14 cases (24.6%) of penetrating type. There were 47 cases (82.5%) with moderate activity and 10 cases (17.5%) with severe activity. There were 17 cases (29.8%) of moderate intestinal inflammation, 40 cases (70.2%) of severe intestinal inflammation. The score of intestinal fibrosis in six cases (10.5%) was 1, 28 cases (49.1%) was 2, 18 cases (31.6%) was 3, five cases was 4. The relative expression level of Piezo1 in intestinal mucosal epithelial cells of CD group was higher than that of healthy control group (12.9±4.6 vs. 8.5±1.1), the relative expression of Piezo1 in intestinal mucosal epithelia cells of stenotic type and penetrating type CD patients were both higher than that of non-penetrating and non-stenotic CD patients (12.6±3.8 and 9.8±2.4 vs. 6.0±1.3), and the differences were all statistically significant ( t=3.00, -3.66 and -3.32, all P<0.01). The relative expression of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells of CD patients with severe intestinal inflammation was higher than that of CD patients with moderate intestinal inflammation (13.1±4.0 vs. 9.7±3.1), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-2.65, P<0.05). The relative expression levels of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells of patients with intestinal fibrosis score of 4, 3, 2 and 1 were 17.6±5.2, 12.6±1.7, 9.1±2.1 and 5.8±1.1, respectively; the relative expression levels of Piezo1 in intestinal epithelial cells of patients scored 4 were higher than that of patients scored 3, 2 and 1, and that of patients scored 3 was higher than patients scored 2 and 1, and that of patients scored 2 was higher than that of patients scored 1, and the differences were all statistically significant ( t=-2.98, -5.10, -3.84, 4.60, 6.55 and 2.56, all P<0.05). The relative expression of Piezo1 in intestinal mucosal epithelial cells was related to the severity of intestinal inflammation and fibrosis. The more severe the intestinal inflammation and fibrosis, the higher the relative expression of Piezo1 in intestinal mucosal epithelial cells. Conclusions:The relative expression of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells is related to the biological behavior and the severity of intestinal inflammation and fibrosis of CD. It is speculated that the expression of Piezo1 in small intestinal epithelial cells may be clinically related to the process of intestinal wall fibrosis in CD to some extent, however whether it plays an important role in the process of intestinal wall fibrosis in CD and its specific mechanism need to be further studied.

Objective:To explore the relationship of serum exosomal miRNA-21 expression and clinical pathological parameters and prognosis in gastric cancer (GC) patients.Methods:Exosomes from serum samples of 52 GC patients and 10 healthy controls were extracted using the ExoQuick Exosome Precipitation Solution, and were further validated by immunoblotting for exosome markers and characterization of nanoparticle using NanoSight. The expression levels of exosomal miRNA-21 in exosomes was detected by RT-qPCR, and its relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis was further analyzed.Results:The expression level of miRNA-21 in serum exosomes of patients with GC was significantly higher than that of normal subjects (2.59±0.12 vs. 1.16±0.10, t=5.168, P<0.05), and its high expression was significantly related to tumor grade, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, vascular invasion, nerve invasion and TNM stage (all P<0.05). Patients in exosomal miRNA-21 high expression group had lower overall survival than that of exosomal miRNA-21 low expression group (χ 2=14.573, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis using the COX regression test identified that higher serum exosomal miRNA-21 was an independent predictor of mortality for GC patients ( HR=2.863, 95% CI: 1.063-7.712, P=0.038). Conclusion:The expression of miRNA-21 in serum exosomes of GC patients is up-regulated, and its high expression is associated with multiple unfavorable clinicopathological factors and poor prognosis of patients.

Objective:To investigate the clinical, imaging, etiological and prognostic features of patients with infarctions in different locations of the medulla oblongata.Methods:Patients with acute medullary infarction hospitalized at Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from July 2017 to July 2022 were included. The risk factors, clinical manifestation, stroke mechanism and 90-day prognosis of these patients were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Among the 256 patients enrolled, 150 (58.6%) had lateral medullary infarction (LMI), 106 (41.4%) had medial medullary infarction (MMI). The most frequent clinical manifestation of patients with LMI was dizziness (84.7%,127/150). And motor disorders (83.0%,88/106) was the most frequent clinical manifestation of patients with MMI. LMI lesions were mostly located in the middle (42.7%,64/150) and MMI lesions were mostly located in the upper (60.4%,64/106) medulla oblongata, with statistically significant difference (χ 2=47.53, P<0.001). Large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) was the main stroke mechanism in LMI and MMI [57.3%(86/150) vs 56.6%(60/106)]. Early neurological deterioration was more common in MMI (25.5%,27/106) and less common in LMI (7.3%,11/150), with statistically significant difference (χ 2=16.17, P<0.001). At discharge, more patients with MMI showed poor prognosis in short term [45.3% (48/106) vs 24.0% (36/150), with statistically significant difference (χ 2=12.76, P<0.001)] and even long term at 90-day follow-up [33.0% (35/106) vs 12.7% (19/150), also with statistically significant difference (χ 2=15.48, P<0.001)] than those with LMI. A total of 10 patients (4.0%, 10/256) developed respiratory failure during hospitalization, including 7 patients with LMI (4.7%, 7/150) and 3 patients with bilateral MMI (2.8%,3/106). Early neurological deterioration ( OR=3.38, 95% CI 1.25-9.10, P=0.016) and LAA (compared with small artery occlusion) ( OR=3.08, 95% CI 1.13-8.37, P=0.028) were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in MMI. Age ( OR=1.01, 95% CI 1.01-1.17, P=0.026) and early neurological deterioration ( OR=20.19, 95% CI=2.63-155.06, P=0.004) were independently correlated with poor outcome in LMI. Conclusions:LMI and MMI had similar etiology and significant differences in clinical manifestations, early neurological deterioration and prognosis. Further classification of medullary infarction was of great significance for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis evaluation.

Objective:To investigate the neuroprotective effect of histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) specific inhibitor RGFP966 on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its mechanism in rats.Methods:Forty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group, TBI group, TBI+vehicle group and TBI+RGFP966 group ( n=12). Rats in the later 3 groups accepted hydraulic impact brain injury to establish TBI models; and then, RGFP966 (dissolved in 1% DMSO at a dose of 10 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally 30 min after modeling, twice a day for 3 d, in TBI+RGFP966 group; same amount of DMSO was injected into TBI+vehicle group at the same time. Three d after modeling, neurological function was tested by modified neurological severity score (mNSS), water content of brain tissues was detected by dry-wet weight method, proportion of injured neurons at the frontal cortical tissues on the affected side was detected by Nissl staining, expressions of HDAC3 and pyroptosis related proteins were detected by immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting, and serum content of inflammatory factors was detected by ELISA. Results:Three d after modeling, compared with the TBI+vehicle group, the TBI+RGFP966 group had significantly decreased mNSS scores (9.83±0.75 vs. 6.67±0.82), water content of the injured cerebral cortex (82.73%±0.36% vs. 80.92%±0.66%), proportion of damaged neurons (75.60%±7.44% vs. 55.87%±4.10%), and HDAC3 protein expression (0.67±0.09 vs. 0.51±0.07), and significantly increased acetylated H3 (Ace-H3) and acetylated H4 (Ace-H4) protein expressions (0.81±0.02 vs. 1.22±0.02; 0.74±0.01 vs. 1.07±0.02), and statistically decreased protein expressions of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB, 1.20±0.05 vs. 0.94±0.04), NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3, 0.72±0.02 vs. 0.40±0.03), Caspase-1 containing cysteine (Caspase-1), dermatin D N-terminal fragment (GSDMD-N, 0.71±0.03 vs. 0.52±0.01), significantly decreased NF-κB and NLRP3 immunohistochemical staining scores, and significantly decreased serum contents of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin(IL)-1β and IL-18 ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Early intervention with RGFP966 after TBI can reduce the pyroptosis and inflammatory reaction of nerve cells and play neuroprotective role, whose mechanism may be related to inhibited activation of NF-κB/NLRP3/GSDMD pathway.

Objective To investigate the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) features of distal biliary stricture (DBS), and to provide a clinical basis for the evaluation of DBS by EUS. Methods Related clinical data were collected from 175 patients with DBS who underwent EUS examination in The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from April 2016 to March 2020 to analyze their clinical manifestation, laboratory examination results, imaging findings, and EUS findings, and the patients were followed up to summarize the EUS features of DBS. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups, and the t -test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups. Results Among the 175 patients with DBS, 85(48.57%) had benign DBS and 90(51.43%) had malignant DBS. Compared with the patients with benign DBS, the patients with malignant DBS had a significantly longer length of stricture on EUS (14.1±3.0 mm vs 7.9±3.0 mm, t =13.358, P < 0.001) and significantly higher incidence rates of the characteristic changes on EUS such as hypoechoic space-occupying lesions in lumen (57.8% vs 34.1%, χ 2 =9.843, P =0.002), peripheral lymph node enlargement (26.7% vs 12.9%, χ 2 =5.147, P =0.023), and pancreatic duct dilatation (51.1% vs 28.2%, χ 2 =9.532, P =0.002). EUS combined with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography had a sensitivity of 70.6% in the diagnosis of benign DBS and a sensitivity of 92.2% in the diagnosis of malignant DBS. Conclusion The characteristic EUS features of DBS, such as long length of stricture, hypoechoic lesion, peripheral lymph node enlargement, and pancreatic duct dilatation, may help with the differential diagnosis of DBS in clinical practice.

Metabolic regulation has been proven to play a critical role in T cell antitumor immunity. However, cholesterol metabolism as a key component of this regulation remains largely unexplored. Herein, we found that the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), which has been previously identified as a transporter for cholesterol, plays a pivotal role in regulating CD8