Atherosclerosis ; Autophagy ; Endothelial Cells ; Humans

Objectives To analyze prognosis and risk factors of Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with hepatectomy.Methods Clinical data of 162 BCLC stage B patients who underwent hepatectomy at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital and the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from June 2007 to December 2013 were retrospectively studied.The correlations between factors (age,gender) and long-term outcome were analyzed to determine independent risk factors.Subsequently,subgroup analysis of BCLC stage B hepatocellular carcinoma was performed.Results Multiple tumors,maximum tumor diameter ＞ 10 cm and AFP ＞ 100 μg/L were con firmed as independent risk factors of overall survival in postoperative BCLC B patients.Based on the risk factors,patients were divided into two groups,namely low-risk subgroup (≤ 1 risk factor) and high-risk subgroup (≥ 2 risk factors).In low-risk subgroup,1,3 and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 91.6％,65.5％,61.9％ respectively,and mean OS was 72 months.By contrast,1,3 and 5-year OS rates in high-risk subgroup were 67.4％,25.6％,10.8％ respectively,and mean OS was 29 months.Further more,1,3 and 5-year OS rates of all patients were 85.2％,54.9％,48.0％ respectively,and mean OS was 61 months.Conclusions Relatively favorable long-term outcomes could be yielded in BCLC stage B hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with liver resection.The independent risk factors including multiple tumors,maximum tumor diameter ＞ 10 cm and AFP ＞ 100 μg/L were closely correlated with overall survival.BCLC stage B hepatocellular carcinoma patients could be divided into low-risk and high-risk subgroups based on the risk factors mentioned above.Survival rates in low-risk subgroup are remarkably superior to those in high-risk subgroup.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) on the stemness and epirubicin sensitivity of hepatoma cells. MethodsHepatoma cells were selected for experiment. HepG2 hepatoma cells transfected with HIF-1α overexpression plasmid were selected as experimental group, and those transfected with pcDNA3.1 empty plasmid were selected as control group; HepG2 cells alone were selected as HepG2 group. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of HIF-1α; Western blot was used to measure the protein expression of HIF-1α; flow cytometry was used to measure the expression of CD133 on the surface of hepatoma cells. The three groups of cells were treated with epirubicin at different concentrations (0, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 μmol/L) for 24 hours; MTT assay was used to measure cell viability, and flow cytometry was used to measure apoptosis after treatment with epirubicin (50 μmol/L). A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the t-test was used for further comparison between two groups. ResultsCompared with the HepG2 group and the control group, the experimental group had a significant increase in the mRNA expression of HIF-1α (both P＜0.001), and Western blot showed high expression of HIF-1α in the experimental group. The percentage of CD133 cells was 0.040%±0.003% in the HepG2 group, 0.030%±0.010% in the control group, and 20.110%±0.600% in the experimental group, and the experimental group had a significantly higher positive rate of CD133+ than the HepG2 group and the control group (both P＜0.001). At an epirubicin concentration of 25 and 50 μmol/L, the HepG2 group and the control group had significantly inhibited cell viability and a significantly lower cell viability than the experimental group (both P＜005). After the treatment with 50 μmol/L epirubicin for 48 hours, the experimental group had a significantly lower cell apoptosis rate than the HepG2 group (67.9%±2.5% vs 93.6%±1.5%, P＜0.001) and the control group (67.9%±2.5% vs 93.0%±1.2%, P＜0001). ConclusionHepG2 cells are successfully transfected with HIF-1α overexpression plasmid, and HIF-1α can increase the percentage of liver cancer stem cells and improve their resistance to epirubicin.

Objective To investigate the applied value of routine ultrasound and shear wave elastography (SWE) in the comparison between triple negative breast cancer ( TNBC) and non-triple negative breast cancer (non-TNBC) . Methods A total of 120 lesions in 120 patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer were retrospectively reviewed ,which were examined by routine ultrasound and SWE before surgery . According to immunohistochemical analysis ,those were divided into TNBC group and non-TNBC group . The features of routine ultrasound ( including shape ,orientation ,margin ,boundary ,echo pattern ,microcalcification ,posterior features of each lesion and blood flow characteristics) and the SWE index[including the average value of the lesion stiffness(Emean) ,the maximum value (Emax) ,the minimum value (Emin) ,the standard deviation (SD) ,and the ratio of the normal breast gland tissue (Eratio)] in the two groups were analyzed and compared . Results ① Two-dimensional ultrasound :TNBC lesions mostly showed the margin of microlobulated ,abrupt boundaries and no internal microcalcification ,but non-TNBC lesions were more likely to have an angular or spiculated margin ,an echogenic halo of boundary and a few microcalcification in the interior ,which were statistically different( P ＜0 .05) . The grade of blood flow and resistance index between TNBC and non-TNBC group showed no statistical difference( P ＞0 .05) . ② The values of Emax ,Emean and Eratio were statistically different( P ＜0 .05) ,with AUCs of 0 .811 ,0 .781 ,and 0 .770 , respectively . Conclusions Routine ultrasound and SWE can comprehensively analyze the morphology ,blood flow and stiffness features of breast lesions ,which provides more valid information to identify T NBC and non-T NBC .

Platinum antitumor drugs are widely used for clinical treatment because of their unique antitumor mechanisms, significant antitumor effects, and broad antitumor spectrum. Yet shortcomings such as toxic side effects, drug resistance and cross-resistance of platinum-based drugs have limited their further application. Platinum-intercalator conjugates possess different antitumor mechanisms from those of classic platinum drugs, and have unique advantages in overcoming the disadvantages of classic platinum antitumor drugs. The platinum-intercalator conjugates can be classified into six categories based on the different DNA-intercalator: platinum-acridine, platinum-quinoline, platinum-indole, platinum-naphthalimides, platinum-anthraquinone and platinum-based antitumor agents containing other types of intercalating groups. This article summarizes the research progress of platinum-based antitumor drugs containing DNA insertion groups in recent years.

Allergic rhinitis（AR） is an independent risk factor for allergic asthma. Some AR patients may have developed airway hyperresponsiveness（AHR） in the absence of asthma symptoms. In this stage, AHR is often neglected due to the absence of typical asthma symptoms. Exploring the clinically relevant risk factors for AHR in patients with AR, as well as the clinical indicators and biomarkers to predict AHR in patients with AR, is of great significance to the prevention of the occurrence of AHR and asthma. This review summarized the risk factors for the development of AHR in AR patients, and gave hints to the prevention of AHR in AR patients.
Humans ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Respiratory Hypersensitivity ; Asthma ; Risk Factors

Objective:To explore the effectiveness of deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) algorithm compared to adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR-V) algorithm in improving the quality of low-dose brain CT images.Methods:Retrospective inclusion of patients who underwent brain CT examination in the People's Liberation Army General Hospital from November 2021 to August 2022. Four different algorithms were used to reconstruct low-dose CT scans of all patients to obtain 30% intensity ASIR-V (ASIR-V-30%) images, low intensity DLIR (DLIR-L) images, medium intensity DLIR (DLIR-M) images, and high intensity DLIR (DLIR-H) images. The regions of interest were selected from four sets of images, including superficial white matter, superficial gray matter, deep white matter, and deep gray matter, and their CT values and standard deviations were measured for calculating signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR).Subjective evaluation of image quality was conducted by three neuroimaging physicians based on the Likert 5-component scale. The objective and subjective scores of the 4 groups of images were analyzed using ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis. If there are overall differences, pairwise comparisons were conducted within the group.Results:A total of 109 patients were enrolled, including 104 males and 5 females, aged 65-110 years (89.16 ± 9.53) years. The radiation exposure of brain CT low-dose scanning was (0.93 ± 0.01)mSv, significantly lower than that of conventional scanning (2.92 ± 0.01) mSv ( t = 56.15, P < 0.05). The differences in objective image quality analysis of ASIR-V-30%, DLIR-L, DLIR-M, and DLIR-H images of low-dose CT in SNR deep gray matter, SNR deep white matter, SNR superficial gray matter, SNR superficial white matter, CNR deep gray white matter, and CNR superficial gray white matter were statistically significant( F =98.23, 72.95, 68.43, 58.24, 241.13, 289.91, P < 0.05). Among them, DLIR-H images had the lowest noise in deep gray matter, deep white matter, superficial gray matter, and superficial white matter, and had statistically significant differences compared to other image groups ( t = 167.43, 275.46, 182.32, 361.54, P < 0.05). The subjective score of DLIR-H image quality was superior to ASIR-V-30%, DLIR-L, and DLIR-M, with the statistically significant difference ( t = 7.25, 8.32, 9.63, P < 0.05). Conclusions:Compared with ASIR-V, DLIR algorithm can effectively reduce image noise and artifacts in low-dose brain CT, and improve SNR and CNR. The subjective and objective image quality evaluation of DLIR-H is the best.

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of transferrin-targeting peptide T7 （7pep） on intracellular transportation of polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone （PEG-PCL） micelles in human cervical cancer HeLa cells. METHODS Using coumarin-6 （C6） as fluorescent indicator probe， both coumarin-6 （C6）-loaded PEG-PCL （PEG-PCL-C6） micelles and 7pep-modified PEG- PCL （7pep-PEG-PCL-C6） micelles were prepared by film-dispersion method. The particle size， polydispersity index and appearance morphology were compared between two types of micelles； the real-time uptake of two types of micelles by HeLa cells was compared， and the colocalization of two types of micelles with early endosomes （EE）， endocytic recycling compartments （ERC） and late endosomes （LE） after entry into the cells was observed. RESULTS The particle sizes of PEG-PCL-C6 and 7pep-PEG-PCL- C6 micelles were（75.0±2.3）and（82.0±1.5）nm； the polymer dispersity indexes were 0.17±0.20 and 0.17±0.32， respectively， with a regular spherical appearance. The colocalization results showed that entry speed and amount of 7pep-PEG-PCL-C6 micelles were significantly faster/more than those of PEG-PCL-C6 micelles. 7pep-PEG-PCL-C6 micelles entered EE faster than PEG-PCL-C6 micelles， while PEG-PCL-C6 micelles entered ERC at a faster rate than 7pep-PEG-PCL-C6 micelles， and both PEG-PCL-C6 micelles and 7pep-PEG-PCL-C6 micelles tended to accumulate gradually in LE； Pearson coefficient， signal overlap ratio， and colocalization ratio of 7pep-PEG-PCL-C6 micelles with LE were significantly lower 60 minutes after entering the cell than those 30 minutes after entering the cell （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS Targeting 7pep modification can increase the entry speed and amount of PEG-PCL-C6 micelles， and also alter their intracellular transportation behavior.