Objective To investigate the relationship between serum high mobility group protein B1(HMGB1),Golgi protein 73(GP73),interleukin-37(IL-37)and HBV-DNA load in patients with hepatitis B virus-associated chronic plus acute liver failure(HBV-ACLF)and the value of predicting prognosis.Methods A total of 112 HBV-ACLF patients from the 980th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistic Support Force from July 2018 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed,and were divided into death group(n=42)and sur-vival group(n=70)according to the clinical outcomes of HBV-CALF patients within 90 days after admis-sion.The clinical data and serum levels of HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 of the two groups were compared,the prognotic factors of the HBV-CALF patient were analyzed,and the relationship between serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 and HBV-DNA load was analyzed.The prognostic value of serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 in HBV-CALF patients were evaluated.Results There were significant differences in disease stage,peritonitis,hepatic encephalopathy,pulmonary infection,HBV-DNA load and MELD score between the death group and the survival group(P＜0.05).Serum levels of HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 in death group were higher than those in survival group(P＜0.05).Disease stage,peritonitis,hepatic encephalopathy,pulmonary infection,HBV-DNA load,MELD score and serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 levels were all independent prognoses of HBV-ACLF patients(P＜0.05).The levels of serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 in HBV-ACLF patients were negatively correlated with HBV-DNA load(P＜0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)values of serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 in predicting the prognosis of HBV-ACLF patients were 0.781,0.790 and 0.782,re-spectively.The AUC value of the combined prediction was the largest(0.944),and the sensitivity and speci-ficity were 86.33％and 91.43％,respectively.Conclusion Serum HMGB1,GP73 and IL-37 levels are closely related to HBV-DNA load and prognosis of HBV-CALF patients,and the combined detection of these three indexes is helpful to improve prognosis prediction efficiency.

Background/Aims: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are believed to drive tumor development and metastasis. Activin and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) are important cytokines with the ability to induce cancer stemness. However, the effect of activin and HGF combination treatment on CSCs is still unclear. Methods: In this study, we sequentially treated colorectal cancer cells with activin and HGF and examined CSC marker expression, self-renewal, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. The roles of forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) and sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), two stemness-related transcription factors, in activin/HGF-induced aggressive phenotype were explored. Results: Activin and HGF treatment increased the expression of CSC markers and enhanced sphere formation in colorectal cancer cells. The tumorigenic and metastatic capacities of colorectal cancer cells were enhanced upon activin and HGF treatment. Activin and HGF treatment preferentially promoted stemness and metastasis of CD133 + subpopulations sorted from colorectal cancer cells. FOXM1 was upregulated by activin and HGF treatment, and the knockdown of FOXM1 blocked activin/HGF-induced stemness, tumorigenesis, and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells.Similarly, SOX2 was silencing impaired sphere formation of activin/HGF-treated colorectal cancers. Overexpression of SOX2 rescued the stem cell-like phenotype in FOXM1-depleted colorectal cancer cells with activin and HGF treatment. Additionally, the inhibition of FOXM1 via thiostrepton suppressed activin/HGF-induced stemness, tumorigenesis and metastasis. Conclusions Sequential treatment with activin and HGF promotes colorectal cancer stemness and metastasis through activation of the FOXM1/SOX2 signaling. FOXM1 could be a potential target for the treatment of colorectal cancer metastasis.

A colon-specific drug delivery system has great potential for the oral administration of colorectal cancer. However, the uncontrollable in vivo fate of liposomes makes their effectiveness for colonic location, and intratumoral accumulation remains unsatisfactory. Here, an oral colon-specific drug delivery system (CBS-CS@Lipo/Oxp/MTZ) was constructed by covalently conjugating Clostridium butyricum spores (CBS) with drugs loaded chitosan (CS)-coated liposomes, where the model chemotherapy drug oxaliplatin (Oxp) and anti-anaerobic bacteria agent metronidazole (MTZ) were loaded. Following oral administration, CBS germinated into Clostridium butyricum (CB) and colonized in the colon. Combined with colonic specifically β-glucosidase responsive degrading of CS, dual colon-specific release of liposomes was achieved. And the accumulation of liposomes at the CRC site furtherly increased by 2.68-fold. Simultaneously, the released liposomes penetrated deep tumor tissue via the permeation enhancement effect of CS to kill localized intratumoral bacteria. Collaborating with blocking the translocation of intestinal pathogenic bacteria from lumen to tumor with the gut microbiota modulation of CB, the intratumoral pathogenic bacteria were eliminated fundamentally, blocking their recruitment to immunosuppressive cells. Furtherly, synchronized with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) released from MTZ-induced dead Fusobacterium nucleatum and the tumor-associated antigens produced by Oxp-caused immunogenic dead cells, they jointly enhanced tumor infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells and reactivated robust antitumor immunity.

Humans ; Asthma/drug therapy* ; Biological Therapy

Objective To explore the predictive value of contrast-enhanced echocardiography com-bined with serum levels of CD137 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6(IGFBP-6)for cardiovascular adverse events(MACE)in elderly patients with stable coronary heart disease(CHD)after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI).Methods A total of 108 elderly patients with stable CHD(CHD group)who visited Department of Cardiology of Changsha First Hospital from March 2020 to March 2022 were recruited in this study.They were grouped into a non-MACE group(81 cases)and a MACE group(27 cases)according to whether MACE occurred after PCI.Another 100 healthy individuals who taking physical examination during the same period served as control group.Their serum CD137 and IGFBP-6 levels were detected,and the contrast agent filling speed(β value)and maximum number of microbubbles(A value)were calculated based on the results of contrast-enhanced echocardiography.Their general clinical data were col-lected.ROC curve analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data.Results The serum levels of CD137 and IGFBP-6 were significantly higher,while the β value and A value were obviously lower in the CHD group than the control group(P＜0.01).And the serum levels were notably higher,and the β value and A value were remarkably lower in the MACE group than the non-MACE group(P＜0.01).The AUC of cardiac ultrasound parameters βvalue and A value combined with serum CD137 and IGFBP-6 to predict MACE after PCI in CHD patients was 0.930,which was significantly higher than the AUC value of every single indicator(P＜0.01).β value,A value,CD137 and IGFBP-6 levels were all risk factors for the occurrence of MACE in CHD patients after PCI(P＜0.01).Conclusion Contrast-enhanced echocardiography,serum CD137 and IGFBP-6 levels have certain predictive value for MACE in elderly CHD patients after PCI,and combined detection has higher predictive value.

Activating humoral and cellular immunity in lymph nodes (LNs) of nanoparticle-based vaccines is critical to controlling tumors. However, how the physical properties of nanovaccine carriers orchestrate antigen capture, lymphatic delivery, antigen presentation and immune response in LNs is largely unclear. Here, we manufactured gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with the same size but different shapes (cages, rods, and stars), and loaded tumor antigen as nanovaccines to explore their disparate characters on above four areas. Results revealed that star-shaped AuNPs captured and retained more repetitive antigen epitopes. On lymphatic delivery, both rods and star-shaped nanovaccines mainly drain into the LN follicles region while cage-shaped showed stronger paracortex retention. A surprising finding is that the star-shaped nanovaccines elicited potent humoral immunity, which is mediated by CD4⁺ T helper cell and follicle B cell cooperation significantly preventing tumor growth in the prophylactic study. Interestingly, cage-shaped nanovaccines preferentially presented peptide-MHC I complexes to evoke robust CD8⁺ T cell immunity and showed the strongest therapeutic efficacy when combined with the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor in established tumor study. These results highlight the importance of nanoparticle shape on antigen delivery and presentation for immune response in LNs, and our findings support the notion that different design strategies are required for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.

The continuing challenges that limit effectiveness of tumor therapeutic vaccines were high heterogeneity of tumor immunogenicity, low bioactivity of antigens, as well as insufficient lymph nodes (LNs) drainage of antigens and adjuvants. Transportation of in situ neoantigens and adjuvants to LNs may be an effective approach to solve the abovementioned problems. Therefore, an FA-TSL/AuNCs/SV nanoplatform was constructed by integrating simvastatin (SV) adjuvant loaded Au nanocages (AuNCs) as cores (AuNCs/SV) and folic acid modified thermal-sensitive liposomes (FA-TSL) as shells to enhance de novo antitumor immunity. After accumulation in tumor guided by FA, AuNCs mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) induced the release of tumor-derived protein antigens (TDPAs) and the shedding of FA-TSL. Exposed AuNCs/SV soon captured TDPAs to form in situ recombinant vaccine (AuNCs/SV/TDPAs). Subsequently, AuNCs/SV/TDPAs could efficiently transport to draining LNs owing to the hyperthermia induced vasodilation effect and small particle size, achieving co-delivery of antigens and adjuvant for initiation of specific T cell response. In melanoma bearing mice, FA-TSL/AuNCs/SV and laser irradiation effectively ablated primary tumor, against metastatic tumors and induced immunological memory. This approach served a hyperthermia enhanced platform drainage to enable robust personalized cancer vaccination.

The current document is based on a consensus reached by a panel of experts from the Chinese Society of Allergy and the Chinese Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology Group. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects approximately 8% of Chinese adults. The inflammatory and remodeling mechanisms of CRS in the Chinese population differ from those observed in the populations of European descent. Recently, precision medicine has been used to treat inflammation by targeting key biomarkers that are involved in the process. However, there are no CRS guidelines or a consensus available from China that can be shared with the international academia. The guidelines presented in this paper cover the epidemiology, economic burden, genetics and epigenetics, mechanisms, phenotypes and endotypes, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, management, and the current status of CRS in China. These guidelines—with a focus on China—will improve the abilities of clinical and medical staff during the treatment of CRS. Additionally, they will help international agencies in improving the verification of CRS endotypes, mapping of eosinophilic shifts, the identification of suitable biomarkers for endotyping, and predicting responses to therapies. In conclusion, these guidelines will help select therapies, such as pharmacotherapy, surgical approaches and innovative biotherapeutics, which are tailored to each of the individual CRS endotypes.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Biomarkers ; China ; Consensus ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Therapy ; Eosinophils ; Epidemiology ; Epigenomics ; Genetics ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Inflammation ; International Agencies ; Medical Staff ; Neck ; Phenotype ; Precision Medicine

Objective: To improve the clinical understanding of Castleman disease (CD) with different types of thoracic involvement, including their clinical features, radiological and pathological findings, diagnosis and current treatment strategies. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 30 patients diagnosed with CD with thoracic involvement and hospitalized between June 2009 and May 2019 in The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University was performed. Patients were divided into three groups for subsequent analysis based on the clinical data: CD with bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) , unicentric Castleman disease (UCD) without BO, and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) without BO. Results: Among the 30 patients, there were 5 (16.7%) patients diagnosed with BO, 18 (60.0%) patients had UCD without BO and 7 (23.3%) patients had MCD without BO. The average age of MCD without BO patients was significantly older than that of BO and UCD without BO patients[ (49.29±5.39) ys vs (27.20±3.76) ys and (37.17±2.87) ys; P=0.005 and 0.034, respectively) ]. Pulmonary symptoms were commonly seen in BO group (100%) and MCD without BO group (71.4%) . while no pulmonary symptoms were seen in UCD without BO group. Key abnormal laboratory findings were erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) increase (40%in BO group and 57.1% in MCD without BO group) and hypoxia (60% in BO group and 28.6% in MCD without BO group) . Other abnormal laboratory findings seen in MCD without BO group included anemia and IgG increase (both 57.1%) . Notably, all patients in BO group had extremely severe mixed ventilation dysfunction in the lung function test. CT scan showed lung parenchyma involvement in BO group (100%) , in UCD without BO group (11.1%) featured by solitary pulmonary nodule and in MCD without BO group (57.1%) featured by diffuse lesions in bilateral lungs. The size of lymph nodes was significantly smaller in MCD without BO group comparing to that in BO group and UCD without BO group[short diameter (1.83±0.51) cm vs (4.73±1.63) cm and (3.62±0.26) cm; P=0.006 and 0.011, respectively]. All patients (100%) in the BO group had a pathological type of transparent vascular variant while the same pathological type accounts for 88.9% in UCD without BO patients. The predominantly pathological type (57.1%) was plasma cell variant in the MCD without BO group. Oral ulcers presented in all patients in BO group but were relieved after the mass resection and immunomodulatory therapy, but the pulmonary symptoms were still progressively aggravated. Thoracoscopic mass excision was the main treatment for UCD without BO patients while chemotherapy, immunomodulatory and targeted therapy were commonly used for MCD without BO treatment. Conclusion The age, clinical symptom, laboratory finding, lung function, imaging manifestation, pathology, treatment and prognosis were different among the three groups. This classification could improve clinical understanding of the disease.