Background::Histological healing is closely associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes and lowered relapses in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we developed a novel diagnostic criterion for assessing histological healing in UC patients.Methods::We conducted a retrospective cohort study in UC patients, whose treatment was iteratively optimized to achieve mucosal healing at Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital of Tongji University from January 2017 to May 2022. We identified an inflammatory cell enumeration index (ICEI) for assessing histological healing based on the proportions of eosinophils, CD177 + neutrophils, and CD40L + T cells in the colonic lamina propria under high power field (HPF), and the outcomes (risks of symptomatic relapses) of achieving histological remission vs. persistent histological inflammation using Kaplan-Meier curves. Intrareader reliability and inter-reader reliability were evaluated by each reader. The relationships to the changes in the Nancy index and the Geboes score were also assessed for responsiveness. The ICEI was further validated in a new cohort of UC patients from other nine university hospitals. Results::We developed an ICEI for clinical diagnosis of histological healing, i.e., Y = 1.701X 1 + 0.758X 2 + 1.347X 3 - 7.745 (X 1, X 2, and X 3 represent the proportions of CD177 + neutrophils, eosinophils, and CD40L + T cells, respectively, in the colonic lamina propria under HPF). The receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis revealed that Y <-0.391 was the cutoff value for the diagnosis of histological healing and that an area under the curve (AUC) was 0.942 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.905-0.979) with a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 83.6% ( P <0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the intrareader reliability was 0.855 (95% CI: 0.781-0.909), and ICEI had good inter-reader reliability of 0.832 (95% CI: 0.748-0.894). During an 18-month follow-up, patients with histological healing had a substantially better outcome compared with those with unachieved histological healing ( P <0.001) using ICEI. During a 12-month follow-up from other nine hospitals, patients with histological healing also had a lower risk of relapse than patients with unachieved histological healing. Conclusions::ICEI can be used to predict histological healing and identify patients with a risk of relapse 12 months and 18 months after clinical therapy. Therefore, ICEI provides a promising, simplified approach to monitor histological healing and to predict the prognosis of UC.Registration::Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, No. ChiCTR2300077792.

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effect and potential molecular mechanisms of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor-73 (CDKI-73), the Rab11 inhibitor, on liver fibrosis.Methods:Human LX2 cells were divided into four groups: negative control group, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) group, CDKI-73 group and TGF-β+ CDKI-73 group. Fifteen 5-week-old female C57 mice with body weight of (18.04±0.62) g were divided into 3 groups with 5 mice in each group: control group (intraperitoneal injection of olive oil + vehicle gavage), carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) group (intraperitoneal injection of CCl 4 + vehicle gavage) and CCl 4+ CDKI-73 group (intraperitoneal injection of CCl 4+ CDKI-73 gavage). Another 15 5-week-old female C57 mice with body weight of (18.06±0.34) g were divided into 3 groups with 5 mice in each group: sham operation group (Sham), bile duct ligation (BDL) group + vehicle group (BDL+ vehicle gavage) and bile duct ligation+ CDKI-73 group (BDL+ CDKI-73 gavage). The expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibronectin(FN)in LX2 cells were analyzed by Western blot. Masson and Sirius red were used to examine the liver fibrosis after CDKI-73 treatment in vivo. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was utilized to examine the expression of α-SMA in mice liver. Results:Collagen content assessed by Sirius red and Masson staining and α-SMA expression evaluated by IHC were all increased in CCl 4 group compared with control group ( q=38.47, 24.99, 36.79). Moreover, the collagen content and α-SMA expression in CCl 4 + CDKI-73 treatment group were obviously decreased compared with CCl 4 group ( q=24.72, 14.87, 27.50), and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.001). Compared with Sham group, collagen content and α-SMA expression in bile duct ligation group were increased ( q=28.23, 41.01, 44.16). Furthermore, in BDL group, after treatment with CDKI-73, the collagen content and α-SMA expression were notably decreased ( q=22.88, 34.31 and 33.97, all P<0.001). Consistent with in vivo results, the relative expression levels of α-SMA and FN protein in TGF-β group were higher than those in TGF-β+ CDKI-73 group (α-SMA: 3.71±0.34 vs. 1.28±0.31; FN: 3.21±0.39 vs. 0.83±0.06, all P<0.001). The mRNA relative expression levels of α-SMA and FN in TGF-β group were higher than those in TGF-β+ CDKI-73 group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.001). However, the relative expression of TGF-β receptor Ⅱ protein in CDKI-73 group was higher than those in negative control group (4.68±0.63 vs. 1.00±0.22, P=0.004). The relative expression level of phosphorylated SMAD2 in TGF-β+ CDKI-73 group was lower than those in TGF-β group (1.67±0.24 vs. 3.99±0.44, P<0.001). Transwell assay showed that 0.5 μmol/L CDKI-73 could effectively inhibit the migration of LX2 cells, and the inhibitory ability became stronger with the increase of CDKI-73 concentration. Conclusion:CDKI-73 can inhibit the activation of hepatic stellate cells and liver fibrosis by inhibiting Rab11-dependent TGF-β signaling pathway both in vivo and in vitro.

【Objective】 To investigate the cell death-inducing effect of methyl rosmarinate (MR) on human hepatoma Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells and their potential mechanisms. 【Methods】 The effects of MR on the viability of Hep-3B, SK-Hep1 and MIHA cells were determined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The morphological changes of three kinds of cells treated with different concentrations of MR were observed by optical microscopy. EdU assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the proliferation and apoptosis of Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells. Transwell assay was used to study the effects of MR on the migration and invasion of Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells. Western blotting was used to evaluate the protein expression levels of apoptosis, EMT and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. 【Results】 After treated with different concentrations of MR (0~200 μmol/L) for 48 h, Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells activities were significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent manner (P<0.01), while there was no significant effect on MIHA cell activity (P>0.05), and the IC50 of Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells were 102.5 and 99.3 μmol/L, respectively. MR treatment (0-150 μmol/L) significantly inhibited the proliferation of Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells (P<0.05), while cell detachment and shrinkage were observed by optical microscopy on the Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells, while the morphology of MIHA cells was not changed. Compared with the control group, MR (100, 150 μmol/L) induced apoptosis in Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells, the expression levels of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and cleaved PARP were significantly increased (P<0.05), while the expression level of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was significantly decreased (P<0.05). MR (100, 150 μmol/L) also inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC cells, significantly increased the expression of E-cadherin and decreased the expression of N-cadherin and Vimentin compared with the control group (P<0.05). Finally, Western blotting results showed that the expressions of p-Akt and p-mTOR in Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 treated by MR were significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that MR may play an anti-cancer role by inhibiting Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. 【Conclusion】 MR can promote apoptosis in Hep-3B and SK-Hep1 cells, which may be closely related to the inhibition of Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early colorectal cancer and its precancerous lesions by using novel lifting clip-assisted traction.Methods:From March to July 2021, 42 patients with colorectal lesions who received ESD at the Digestive Endoscopy Center of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital were included in the retrospective study. Nineteen patients were enrolled as the observation group using the novel lifting clip, and 23 others in the control group without the help of an auxiliary method. The operation time, the hospital stay, hospital expenses and the incidence of complications of the two groups were compared.Results:All 42 patients successfully received ESD. The operation time of the observation group was significantly shorter than that of the control group [31.00 (21.00, 58.00) min VS 60.00 (30.00, 75.00) min, Z=-2.04, P=0.04]. The postoperative hospital stay of the observation group was significantly shorter than that of the control group [2.00 (1.00, 2.00) d VS 2.00 (2.00, 3.00) d, Z=-1.99, P=0.04]. The hospital cost was lower than that of the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (19 331.42 ± 3 481.20 yuan VS 19 802.40 ± 2 548.50 yuan, t=-0.49, P=0.63). No intraoperative perforation occurred in either group. There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss between the observation group and the control group [0.00 (0.00, 5.00) mL VS 3.00 (0.00, 7.00) mL, Z=-1.42, P=0.16]. There was 1 case of postoperative abdominal pain in the observation group, 2 cases of postoperative abdominal pain and 1 case of fever in the control group. There was no significant difference in the overall incidence of postoperative complications between the observation group and the control group [5.3% (1/19) VS 13.0% (3/23), χ2=0.73, P=0.39]. Conclusion:The novel lifting clip-assisted colorectal ESD is safe and effective, which can significantly shorten the ESD operation time and postoperative hospital stay without increasing the economic burden of patients.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a ubiquitous class of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in all kingdoms of life with diverse structures.CircRNA is an endogenous noncoding RNA molecule with covalently close cyclic structure which does not have 5'end cap and 3'poly (A) tail.It is found to be evolutionary conservative and stable with tissue specificity.CircRNAs have many biological functions.In addition to acting as miRNA sponges,many other functions are being revealed,including regulator of gene transcription,and splicing and protein translation.It is involved in ovarian epithelial neoplasms,pre-eclampsia and other development.CircRNAs could regulate the expression of numerous gynecological cancer-related microRNA (miRNAs).The circRNA-miRNA-messenger RNA(mRNA) axis is a known regulatory pattern of several cancer-associated pathways,with both agonist and antagonist effects on carcinogenesis.Numerous studies have shown that circRNAs may become potential targets and clinical diagnostic markers for reproductive and gynecological diseases.This review focuses on the biogenesis and properties of circRNAs,databases of circRNA,their functions and potential significance in gestational,tumor and gestational diseases.

Objective To investigate the clinical roles of lysine methyltransferase 5A(KMT5A)in human hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and its functions in cell migration and invasion. Methods The expression levels of KMT5A of 60 cases were detected by immunohistochemistry(IHC). KMT5A siRNA was used to down-regulate the expression of KMT5A in SMMC-7721 cells. Cell migration and invasion were measured by wound healing assays and transwell assays,respectively. Immunoblotting was used to detect the expression of MMP-2 after siRNA trans-fection. miR-186 mimics were transfected into SMMC-7721 cells and the mRNA levels of KMT5A was detected by qRT-PCR after transfection. Results High expression of KMT5A was associated with large tumor diameter (>5 cm,P=0.047)and advanced TNM stage(Ⅲ+Ⅳ,P=0.035). The expression of KMT5A was knocked down by siRNA in SMMC-7721 cells. Down-regulation of KMT5A suppressed cell migration(P=0.031,P=0.006)and invasion(P=0.010),and impaired MMP-2 expression(P=0.040). Overexpression of miR-186 could significantly inhibit the expression of KMT5A(P = 0.007). Conclusions Over-expression of KMT5A in HCC tissues associ-ates with poor clinical features. KMT5A knockdown inhibits the migration and invasion on HCC cells.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between receptor-interacting kinase protein 4 (RIPK4) relative copy number (RCN) and prognosis of stage III( colorectal cancer (CRC) patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.

METHODSRIPK4 RCN was determined by real-time PCR and then dichotomized into high RIPK4 RCN group(n=35) and low RIPK4 RCN group (n=104) using the third quartile as the cut-off point. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared between high and low RIPK4 RCN groups. The subgroup prognostic analysis was also conducted based on tumor site.

RESULTSThe median follow-up period was 49 months (ranged 4 to 98 months). Patients with high RIPK4 RCN had poorer OS than those with low RIPK4 RCN, which reached marginal significance(median OS, 43.0 months vs. 53.5 months, P=0.074). Meanwhile there was no significant difference of RFS between two groups (P=0.352). In colon cancer subgroup, high RIPK4 RCN was significantly associated with poor OS (median OS, 31.5 months vs. 56.6 months, P=0.015) but not with RFS (P=0.135). In rectal cancer subgroup, RIPK4 RCN was not associated with both OS and RFS (P=0.981, P=0.738). Multivariate analysis revealed that high RIPK4 RCN was an independent prognostic factor of OS in stage III( CRC patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (HR=2.903, 95% CI: 1.275 to 6.610).

CONCLUSIONRIPK4 RCN is significantly associated with OS in stage III( colon cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy and may be a novel biomarker that can predict the efficacy of oxaliplatin in colon cancer patients.

Objective:To study the rule of spontaneous behavior and to explore the effect on emotion of mice peripherally infected with influenza A WSN33 virus( H1N1).Methods: Mice were intranasal inoculated with H1N1 WSN33 or saline.Then mice bodyweight change,and total distance movement,average movement speed distance in the central area and feces in the open field test in 5 minutes were recorded in two weeks.Results: Mice following WSN33 infection bodyweight declined sharply until day 7 post-inoculation,and mice bodyweight recovered from influenza infection at day 8 post-inoculation.Total distance movement of mice following H1N1 WSN33 infection decreased in the open field test,and difference of the reduction was significant from day 5 to day 10 post-inocu-lation.The average movement speed had no statistical difference.The range of numbers of fecal grains was large, and they were no significant difference.Conclusion:The total distance movement decreased,but average movement speed did not change following mice infected with H1N1 WSN33.They told us that mice infected with H1N1 WSN33 had anxiety,depressed and nervous emotion which is more evident in acute stage and early recovery stage,whereas the change of the nervous emotion was small and not obvious.

Objective:Studies on the immune-enhancing activity of Polysaccharides from the fruits of Borojoa sorbilis cuter ( polysaccharides BSCP) in vivo.Methods:54 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups.The immune suppression mice in the three experimental groups,which were induced by cyclophosphamide ( CY) at 80 mg/kg/d via intraperitoneal injection, were perfused with 100,200,400 mg/kg/d BSCP for 30 d.The effect of BSCP on cellular immune function,humoral immune function and mononuclear macrophage function were measured.Results:CY-treated mice showed a significant decrease in immune function( P<0.05),humoral immune function(P<0.01) and mononuclear macrophage function(P<0.01).The administration of BSCP was able to overcome the CY-induced immunosuppression,treatment with BSCP-L,BSCP-M and BSCP-H groups significantly enhanced the cellular immune function( each was P<0.05 ) and mononuclear macrophage function ( each was P<0.05 ) , and treatment with BSCP-M and BSCP-H significantly enhanced humoral immune function(each was P<0.01).Conclusion:BSCP could significantly increase immune responses and reduce the side effects of CY in immune system.Therefore,the BSCP could be an immunomodulatory agent.

BACKGROUND:Study confirms that bone morphogenetic protein can induce osteogenesis;however the ultrastructure of periosteal cells induced by bone morphogenetic protein-7 remains poorly reported.
OBJECTIVE:To study the bioactivity and ultrastructure of periosteal cells induced by bone morphogenetic protein-7 in vitro.
METHODS:The primary periosteal cells isolated from adult tibial bone were in vitro cultured, and then divided into experimental group and control group. In the experimental group, cells were cultured with bone morphogenetic protein-7 and culture adjuvant;while cells in the control group were only cultured with the adjuvant. Three samples in each group were tested at 5, 10, 15 days, respectively. The general structure of cultured cells was observed using von Kossa staining, and the ultrastructure was observed under transmission electron microscopy.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The periosteal cells in the two groups grew wel in vitro, showing uniform morphology. Early cells were spindle-shaped, with strong three-dimensional sense and ful transparency;mitotic cells were short columnar or cubic shaped, there were a lot of rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex in osteoblasts under electron microscope. Later stage of cells developed from long fusiform into wide shuttle and irregular shape, there were a large number of matrix vesicles within the cells under the electron microscope. The membrane coating, alkaline phosphatase and calcium-binding protein in the cytoplasm, as wel as calcium crystals were found. The osteogenesis basement and lateral sides appeared projections, which were connected with adjacent bone cells. Induction of bone morphogenetic protein-7 in vitro promotes the osteoblasts proliferation, division and bone formation speed. The results suggest that bone morphogenetic protein-7 can significantly enhance the proliferation ability of osteoblasts in vitro.