Objective To investigate the expression of thyroid cancer-1 (TC1) and β-catenin in cervical carcinoma and precancerous lesions and their significance. Methods Immunohistochemical methods were used to examine the expression of TC1 and β-catenin in80 cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) tissues, 40 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), 40 low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), and 30 normal cervical tissues. Results Although TC1 expression in CSCC was significantly higher than that in LSIL (P = 0.002) and normal cervical tissues (P ＜ 0.001), it was similar to that in HSIL (P = 0.576). TC1 expression was positively correlated with poor differentiation (P = 0.005) and advanced FIGO stage (P = 0.004) in CSCC. β-catenin expression in CSCC was significantly higher than that in LSIL (P ＜ 0.001) and normal cervical tissues (P ＜ 0.001), but was similar to that in HSIL (P = 0.907). The abnormal β-catenin expression was also correlated with poor differentiation (P = 0.025) and advanced FIGO stage (P = 0.001) in CSCC. TC1 expression was positively correlated with the abnormal β-catenin expression in CSCC (r = 0.294, P = 0.008) and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (r = 0.549, P ＜ 0.001). Conclusion TC1 and β-catenin expression in CSCC and HSIL was significantly higher than that in LSIL and normal cervical tissues. TC1 expression correlated with the abnormal β-catenin expression, and with poor differentiation and advanced FIGO stage of CSCC.

Objective To translate Rheumatoid Arthritis Self-efficacy Scale (RASE) into Chinese and to evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods A total of 188 hospitalized patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were selected as research subjects through convenience sampling method. According to the translation mode of the scale, Chinesization and cultural adjustment were conducted to the English version of RASEto test reliability and validity. Results Item analysis showed that the Chinese version of RASE could discriminate the high-score group from the low-score group (P<0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the correlation coefficient between the score of each item and the total score of the Chinese version of RASE was positively correlated (P<0.01).Exploratory factor analysis extracted a total of 8 common factors, which explained 68.55％of the total variance. The Cronbachαof the Chinese version of RASE was 0.901, and Cronbachαof each dimension ranged from 0.660 to 0.867;the retest reliability was 0.955 after 1 week, and ranged from 0.819 to 0.984 for each dimension;the split-half reliability coefficient was 0.848. Conclusion The Chinese version of RASE has good reliability and validity, which can be applied to the research of self-efficacy of patients with RA in China.

Objective To investigate the role of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 ( CDK9) in regulating lytic replication of Kaposi′s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus ( KSHV) .Methods Percentages of red fluores-cent protein (RFP) positive cells were counted after treating and stimulating iSLK .219 cells with FIT-039, a CDK9 specific inhibitor , and doxycycline ( Dox ) , respectively , or transfecting and stimulating them with CDK9 siRNA (si-CDK9) and Dox, respectively.Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the expres-sion of KSHV genes at mRNA level in TREx-K-Rta BCBL-1 cells treated with FIT-039 or transfected with si-CKD9 in the presence of Dox.Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was used to examine the enrich-ment of RNA polymerase Ⅱ( RNA PolⅡ) and phosphorylated CTD-S2 of RNA PolⅡon the PAN promot-er in TREx-K-Rta BCBL-1 cells treated with FIT-039.Results Both FIT-039 intervention and CDK9 knockdown dramatically deceased the percentage of RFP-positive iSLK.219 cells and suppressed the expres-sion of ORF50, PAN and K2 in TREx-K-Rta BCBL-1 cells at mRNA level.Furthermore, FIT-039 signifi-cantly inhibited the enrichment of RNA Pol Ⅱand phosphorylated CTD-S2 of RNA Pol Ⅱon the PAN pro-moter in TREx-K-Rta BCBL-1 cells.Conclusion CDK9 is involved in regulating the lytic replication of KSHV through promoting the phosphorylation of CTD-S2 of RNA Pol Ⅱ.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of therapeutic plasma exchange with continuous renal replacement therapy in patients with early septic shock.Methods:A total of 55 patients with septic shock admitted to ICU of Mindong Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University from December 2017 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the therapeutic plasma exchange group ( n=29) and standard-therapy group ( n=26) according to whether plasma exchange combined with hemofiltration was used. Patients in both groups were treated according to the 2016 Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines. No hemofiltration or/and plasma exchange therapy was performed in the standard-therapy group. In the therapeutic plasma exchange group, hemofiltration was performed immediately after plasma exchange within 24 h. The inflammatory indexes, hemodynamic indexes, organ function scores and 28-day mortality were monitored before and 24 h after treatment. χ2 test was used for counting data, t-test was used for measurement data, and Kaplan-Meier curve was used to evaluate 28-day survival status. Results:(1) There were no differences in sex, age, underlying diseases, acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) score and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score before treatment between the two groups. (2) There were no significant differences in PCT, CRP and IL-6 between the two groups at enrollment. After treatment, PCT, CRP and IL-6 in the therapeutic plasma exchange group were significantly lower than those in the standard-therapy group [PCT (ng/mL): (50.07±14.54) vs. (57.93±13.42), P=0.043; CRP (mg/L): (85.71±46.05) vs. (115.10±44.42), P=0.042; IL-6 (pg/mL): (5 957.45±2 344.48) vs. (7 522.94±3 218.94), P=0.043], but there was no significant difference in WBC between the two groups. (3) There were no significant differences in norepinephrine dose, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), extravascular lung water index (EVLWI) and Lactate level between the two groups. After treatment, the norepinephrine dose, lactate level and EVLWI in the therapeutic plasma exchange group decreased significantly, while SVRI increased significantly {norepinephrine dose [μg/(kg·min): (0.76±0.39) vs. (0.54±0.39), P=0.044; lactate (μmmol/ L): (7.74±4.22) vs. (4.51±1.62), P<0.001; EVLWI (mL/kg): (10.04±2.77) vs. (8.23±2.23), P=0.008; SVRI (dyn·s/cm 2): (1 103.14±364.94) vs. (1 403.31±264.46), P=0.001}. Compared with the standard-therapy, the 24-h intravenous infusion volume was significantly decreased [(3 852.07±686.43) mL vs. (4 474.81±572.71) mL, P=0.001]. (4) There were no significant differences in APACHEⅡscore and SOFA score between the two groups at enrollment. After treatment, the APACHEⅡscore and SOFA score of the therapeutic plasma exchange group were significantly lower than those of the standard-therapy group [APACHEⅡscore: (14.07±4.30) vs. (19.23±5.44), P<0.001; SOFA score: (9.93±1.16) vs. (11.69±1.81), P<0.001)]. There were no significant differences in ICU mortality and 28-day mortality between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Therapeutic plasma exchange with continuous renal replacement therapy can reduce the inflammatory response and improve hemodynamics in patients with septic shock. However, 24 h treatment did not improve the mortality of patients.

Objective:The diagnostic values of urine free and fractionated catecholamine metabolites (including metanephrine MN and normetanephrine NMN, usually known as MNs) were established and their clinical value was evaluated.Methods:Using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS), urine free MNs (f-MN, f-NMN) and fractionated MNs(t-MN, t-NMN) from 180 cases of non-pheochromocytoma and 54 cases of pheochromocytoma (PCC)patients were detected respectively.Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to establish clinical reference cut-off value for different forms of MNs, and diagnostic efficacy of free, fractionated and total MNs was evaluated.Results:(1) The cut-off values of f-MN, f-NMN, t-MN and t-NMN were 47.8 μg/24 h, 52.3 μg/24 h, 224.9 μg/24 h and 664 μg/24 h, respectively. The cut-off values of total f-MNs and total t-MNs were 126 μg/24 h and 1 070 μg/24 h, respectively. (2) The correlation between f-MN and t-MN ( r=0.976, P<0.001), f-NMN and t-NMN ( r=0.940, P<0.001) was good. The area under ROC curve(AUC)of f-MN was lower than that of t-MN(0.579 vs 0.730, P<0.001), the sensitivity was slightly lower than that of t-MN((37.01% vs 51.85%, P=0.036), and the specificity was similar (99.44% vs 96.67%, P>0.05). There was no significant difference in sensitivity (90.74% vs 92.59%, P>0.05), specificity (99.44% vs 96.67%, P>0.05) and AUC (0.944 vs 0.959, P>0.05) between f-NMN and t-NMN. The combined diagnostic value of MN and NMN (total MNs) was higher than MN (free type:0.932>0.579, fractionation type: 0.960>0.730), which was similar to NMN. Conclusions:The diagnostic performance of urine free NMN or total MNs for PCC is similar to that of fractionated typewhich can meet the clinical needs.With few influencing factors, free type MNs may be used as an alternative indicator for PCC screening in the future.

ObjectiveThe active ingredients， action targets， and signaling pathways of Cuscutae Semen to control premature ovarian failure were initially predicted by network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques， and an animal model of premature ovarian failure was constructed to explore the mechanism of Cuscutae Semen based on lipid and atherosclerosis signaling pathways. MethodThe effective components and corresponding targets of drugs were obtained from Traditional Chinese Medicines Systems Pharmacology Platform （TCMSP）， Swiss Target Prediction， Pharmmapper， and other databases. GeneCards database was used to collect disease-related targets. Venny2.1.0 online tool was used to screen out the intersection targets of drugs and diseases， and STRING database and Cytoscape v3.7.2 software were used to construct the network diagram of "drug-component-target" and protein-protein interaction （PPI）. The gene ontology （GO） and the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes （KEGG） enrichment analyses of the intersection targets were performed by running the R language script. The molecular docking technology was utilized to dock drug components with targets and visualize some of the docking results. The mice were randomly divided into a blank group， a model group， a Cuscutae Semen group， and an estradiol valerate group， and the ovarian premature failure model was prepared by chronic stress. The blank group and the model group were gavaged with the same amount of normal saline， and the Cuscutae Semen group was given a Cuscutae Semen decoction of 2.6 g·kg^-1·d^-1. The estradiol valerate group was given an estradiol valerate solution of 0.13 mg·kg^-1·d^-1. After four weeks， samples were collected， and hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was performed to observe the histopathological changes in the ovary. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， estradiol （E₂）， Muller's tube inhibitor/anti-Muller's tube hormone （AMH）， total cholesterol （TC）， high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C）， and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C） were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The expression levels of extracellular regulatory protein kinase （ERK）， nuclear transcription factor-κB p65 （NF-κB p65）， nuclear transcription factor-κB suppressor α （IκBα）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， IL-6， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） were measured by Western blot. ResultA total of 171 targets of Cuscutae Semen for the prevention and treatment of premature ovarian failure were screened， mainly including tumor protein p53 （TP53）， protein kinase B1 （Akt1）， sarcoma （SRC）， tumor necrosis factor （TNF）， epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR）， etc. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis predicts that Cuscutae Semen is mainly involved in lipid and atherosclerosis， TNF signaling pathway， and TP53 signaling pathway to control premature ovarian failure. The animal experiments show that compared with the premature ovarian failure model group， the Cuscutae Semen group can significantly upregulate AMH， E₂， and HDL-C （P<0.05， P<0.01）， significantly downregulate LH， TC， and LDL-C （P<0.01）， greatly reduce IL-1β， IL-6， and TNF-α protein levels， as well as ERK， NF-κB p65， and their phosphorylation levels （P<0.01）. ConclusionCuscutae Semen can regulate hormone levels and improve ovarian function through a multi-component， multi-target， and multi-pathway approach， and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of lipid and atherosclerosis signaling pathways.