AIM: To observe the morphology of corneal incision between femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery(FLACS)with 2.4mm micro-incision and conventional phacoemulsification cataract surgery(CPCS)with 2.4mm micro-incision, evaluating the safety and stability of the incision.

METHODS: This was a prospective controlled study. A total of 89 cataract patients(99 eyes)who underwent cataract surgery were collected. All patients were divided into two groups: 44 cases(49 eyes)in FLACS group and 45 cases(50 eyes)in CPCS group. Morphology of clear corneal incision was observed by OCTA postoperative.

RESULTS: There was no external wound dehiscence in FLACS group on 1d postoperative, while 10% patients had external wound dehiscence in CPCS group(P<0.05). There were no external wound dehiscence in both groups on 1wk, 1mo and 3mo postoperative. On 1wk and 1mo postoperative, the incidences of internal wound dehiscence in FLACS group(47% of 1wk and 10% of 1mo)were lower than that in CPCS group. There were statistically significant difference(68% of 1wk and 26% of 1mo)(P<0.05). On 1d and 3mo postoperative, there were no significant difference in internal wound dehiscence in both groups. There were no significant differences in descemet membrane detachment(DMD)in both groups.

CONCLUSION: Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery(FLACS)is benefit for wound closure and reducing abnormal incision construction.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the changes in retinal functions using multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) following intravitreal injection of Lucentis for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

METHODSThis prospective study was conducted in 14 patients (9 men and 5 women, 14 eyes) with wet age-related macular degeneration receiving treatment with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (Lucentis) in our hospital between October, 2014 and January, 2016. All the patients received the treatment following a 1+PRN protocol and after the initial injection, the patients were followed up monthly for 6 months to decide if additional injections were needed. The corrected visual acuity and mfERG findings of the patients were assessed before and at l, 3 and 6 months after the initial injection.

RESULTSAt the last follow-up, the patients received injections for a mean of 2.86∓1.58 times. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 1 month after the initial treatment was not significantly different from that before treatment (P=0.07), but showed significant improvements at 3 and 6 months (P<0.05). In mfERG, the implicit time of the 6 rings showed no significant decrease after the treatment, but the amplitude density of P1 and N1 in rings 1 and 2 improved significantly at 1, 3, and 6 months after the initial injection (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONMultifocal electroretinography can serve as a useful modality for evaluating visual function changes in patients receiving intravitreal injection of Lucentis for wet age-related macular degeneration.

To prove that ursolic acid(UA)could activate the autophagy of colorectal cancer HCT116 cells by inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway. The effect of UA on the viability of HCT116 cells was determined by MTT assay. The effect of UA on the proliferation and migration of HCT116 cells was detected by crystal violet staining and scratch test. In the study on autophagy, the time points were screened out first: the autophagy fluorescence intensity of UA acting on HCT116 at different time points were detected by Cell Meter~(TM) Autophagy Assay Kit; Western blot was used to detect the expression of autophagy protein P62 at different time points. Then, Cell Meter~(TM) Autophagy Assay Kit was used to detect the effect of UA on autophagy fluorescence intensity of HCT116 cells. The effect of different doses of UA on the expressions of LC3Ⅱ and P62 proteins in HCT116 cells were detected by Western blot. Further, AdPlus-mCherry-GFP-LC3 B adenovirus transfection was used to detect the effects of UA on autophagy flux of HCT116 cells; UA combined with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine(CQ) was used to detect the expression of LC3Ⅱ by Western blot. In terms of mechanism, the effect of UA on hedgehog signaling pathway-related proteins in HCT116 cells was detected by Western blot. The results showed that UA inhibited the activity, proliferation and migration of HCT116 cells. UA enhanced the fluorescence intensity of autophagy in HCT116 cells, while promoting the expression of LC3Ⅱ and inhibiting the expression of P62, in a time and dose dependent manner. UA activated the autophagy in HCT116 cells, which manifested that UA resulted in the accumulation of fluorescence spots and strengthened the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes; compared with UA alone, UA combined with autophagy inhibitor CQ promoted the expression of LC3Ⅱ. UA reduced the expressions of PTCH1, GLI1, SMO, SHH and c-Myc in hedgehog signaling pathway, while increased the expression of Sufu. In conclusion, our study showed that UA activated autophagy in colorectal cancer HCT116 cells, which was related to the mechanism in inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway activity.
Apoptosis ; Autophagy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Hedgehog Proteins/genetics* ; Humans ; Signal Transduction ; Triterpenes

OBJECTIVE: Sorafenib has been extensively used for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and Chinese herbal medicine has also been used to manage advanced HCC. The present work evaluates the effectiveness and safety of Jiedu (JD) Granule, a compound of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, side-by-side with sorafenib for the treatment of advance HCC. METHODS: Patients with advanced HCC receiving treatment with JD Granule or sorafenib were enrolled from December 2014 to March 2018. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to control for possible selection bias from the study group allocation process. RESULTS: Of the 325 patients included, 161 received JD Granule and 164 received sorafenib. No significant differences were found in OS or PFS among patients receiving JD Granule compared to sorafenib (P > 0.05). Median OS of the two study groups was 6.83 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.83-9.47) in the group receiving JD Granule and 8 months (95% CI: 6.67-9.80) in the group receiving sorafenib, with half-, 1- and 2-year survival rates of 53.6%, 31.2% and 13.2% vs 60.1%, 35.5% and 14.2%, respectively. Even after PSM, the median survival time did not differ between the JD Granule group (9.03 months; 95% CI: 6.37-14.2) and the sorafenib group (7.93 months; 95% CI: 6.5-9.97), with comparable half-, 1- and 2-year survival rates. The most common adverse events (AEs) were diarrhea (13.7%) and fatigue (5.6%) in the JD Granule group, and hand-foot skin reaction (46.3%) and diarrhea (36.6%) in the sorafenib group. The JD Granule was more cost-effective than sorafenib treatment for advanced HCC. CONCLUSION Compared to sorafenib, JD Granule was more cost-effective and caused fewer AEs for the treatment of Chinese patients with advanced HCC.