Fibrosis is an important pathoIogicaI change in a variety of diseases and with compIicated causes. Fibrosis diseases in different organs have different causes,but the common manifestations of fibrobIast are proIiferation and coIIagen deposition that couId eventuaIIy Iead to normaI tissue damage and Ioss of function. Fibrosis in such important organs as the heart or Iung couId be Iife-threatening. There are different reguIating factors and drugs to fibrosis. Chinese medicine treatment is stiII the main method cIinicaIIy for Iiver fibrosis. Because there is no effective cure for puImonary fibrosis,treatment focuses on anti-infIammation by aIIeviating Iesion and improving kidney function. Despite the tremendous progress in fibrosis treatment,there is stiII a Iack of targeted drugs that couId cure a specific disease in a specific area. With the deveIopment of gene technoIogy,gene therapy wiII become an important treatment for this disease. This paper introduces anti-myocardiaI fibrosis drugs according to the mechanism.

Objective To summarize clinical experiences for the management of upper cervical fracture associated with mild to moderate craniocerebral injury in order to improve the outcome of patients with craniocervical injury.Methods Twenty-two cases (13 males and 9 females) of non-nerve damage treated surgically from June 2008 to June 2012 were enrolled.Mean age was 41 years (range,23-68 years).Mechanisms of injury were traffic accidents in 12 cases,high falls in 7 cases and violence or others in 3 cases.Dens fractures were noted in 7 cases,Jefferson fractures in 5 cases and axial vertebral arch fractures in 4 cases,and combined atlas and axis fractures in 6 cases.Admission Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was 12-14 points in 10 cases and 9-11 points in 12 cases.All cases suffered some degree of brain damage including brain contusion and laceration,and epidural,subdural or intracerebral hematoma.Three cases of cervical fractures were misdiagnosed in the early stage.Twelve cases required emergent craniotomy due to the primary craniocerebral injury and had elective upper cervical spine surgery until the medical condition was stabilized.Another 10 cases underwent conservation treatment of craniocerebral injury and had cervical spine surgery within 1 week due to the severe dislocation of the upper cervical spine.Operation time,blood loss,hospital stay,hospitalization cost and perioperative complications were analyzed.Outcome was evaluated with Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at discharge.Fracture union,bone fusion and cervical stability were assayed with X-rays and CT films.Results All were followed up for a mean period of 18 months (range,12-36 months).Among the 12 cases of primary craniocerebral injury,operation time was (115 ± 22) min,blood loss was (280 ± 72) ml,hospitalization period was (23 ±7)d and overall cost was 88,000 yuan;one case sustained wound infection cured two weeks after debridement and dressing and two cases sustained pulmonary infection cured after antibiotic treatment;discharge GOS was grade Ⅳ in 2 cases and grade Ⅴ in 10 cases.Among the 10 cases of primary cervical injury,operation time was (125 ± 38) min,blood loss was (330 ± 90) ml,hospitalization period was (17 ± 6)d and overall cost was 61,000 yuan;no perioperative complications occurred;discharge GOS was grade Ⅳ in 1 case and grade Ⅴ in 9 cases.Pain radiating to occipital region,limited neck mobility and other clinical symptoms were alleviated at discharge.X-rays verified good healing of the bone and no malposition of the screws.Conclusion For cervical fracture associated with craniocerebral injury,cervical examination and protection are important.Once medical condition becomes stable,early surgery can be performed for upper cervical fracture.

Objective To study the expression of Snail in laryngeal carcinoma and to explore its relationship with invasion and metastasis in subgroup laryngeal carcinoma cells. Method The expression of Snail protein was examined by immunohistochemistry staining in the tissue of laryngeal carcinoma. The statistical evaluation was performed to detect the correlation between the Snail protein expression and clinical features. In different subgroups of laryngeal carcinoma cells (CD 44+CD 133+cells, CD 44 and CD 133-cells), the expression of Snail and adhesion molecules E-cadherin were detected by RT-PCR,Western blot test and immunochemical staining which were studied in the correlation with invasion and metastasis. Results The result of immunohistochemical staining revealed that Snail was moderately or highly expressed in the tissue of laryngeal carcinoma significantly and higher than those in adjacent non-cancerous tissues(P<0.01). Expression of Snail was highly correlated with lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation and clinical classification(P<0.05).However, it was not related to the age , gender and clinical type. RT-PCR and Western blot test results confirmed that the expression level of Snail was significantly higher in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells than in CD 44-and CD 133-laryngeal cancer cells, otherwise the expression level of E-cadherin in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells was significantly lower than in the CD 44-and CD 133-laryngeal cancer cells. Cell immunohistochemical staining confirmed the expression of Snail and E-cadherin were negatively correlated in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells. Conclusion Over expression of Snail in laryngeal carcinoma is closely related to the development of laryngeal cancer and lymph node metastasis. The expression of Snail in the CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cell subgroup is negatively correlated with adhesion molecules E-cadherin, which is a close correlation with invasion and metastasis of laryngeal cancer cells.

Objective:To investigate the expression of activator of basal transcription 1 (ABT1) protein in gastric cancer tissue and its relationships with the clinical parameters and prognosis of gastric cancer patients, and to clarify the role of ABT1in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.Methods:A total of 100cases of cancer tissue of the gastric cancer patients and 80pairs of adjacent tissue were selected.The expressions of ABT1in cancer tissue and adjacent tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry and the proportion of stained cells and the degree of staining in the immunohistochemistry results were analyzed using semi-quantitative analysis.The relationships between the semi-quantitative analysis results and the clinical parameters of gastric cancer patients were statistically analyzed.Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the correlation between the ABT1 protein expression level and the survival of gastric cancer patients.Results:ABT1-positive staining was observed in the nucleus and cytoplasm of gastric cancer tissue and adjacent gastric tissue.The expression level of ABT1in gastric cancer tissue was lower than that in adjacent tissue (P=0.021) .The ABT1protein expression level in gastric cancer tissue was significantly negatively correlated with the pathological grade (r=-0.224, P=0.026) .The Kaplan-Meier analysis results of the survival curve showed that the high expression of ABT1was associated with good prognosis in the gastric cancer patients (HR=1.483, P＜0.01) .The survival rate of gastric cancer patients with high ABT1expression was significantly higher than that of the patients with low ABT1expression (HR=2.411, P=0.0272) .Conclusion:The expression of ABT1in gastric cancer tissue is lower, indicating that ABT1can be used one of the markers of good prognosis of gastric cancer.

Objective:The clinical features, laboratory indices, and imaging data of patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) were described and analyzed, aiming to provide helpful information for the diagnosis and treatment of PJP. Methods:A retrospective study were conducted with data from 154 PJP patients who visited China-Japan Friendship Hospital from May 2017 to August 2020. Their clinical characteristics, laboratory and imaging data, and clinical outcomes were collected for analysis. The patients were further divided into the death group (51 cases) and the survival group(103 cases). The differences between the groups were compared by using t-test, nonparametric test, and chi-square test. Results:Of the 154 PJP patients, there were 89 males and 65 females, with a mean age of (53.7±14.8) years. Among them, 85.7% (132/154) were on immunosuppressive/glucocorticoids agents within the past month. Besides, 27.9% (43/154) and 33.1% (51/154) had kidney diseases and connective tissue diseases, respectively. The major clinical manifestations in these patients involved fever 82.9% (126/154), cough 59.7% (92/154), and dyspnea 52.6% (81/154). For the laboratory data, the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was 561.0 (434.3, 749.0) IU/L and the value increased in 91.3% (95/104) of the patients. The CD4+T-cell lymphocytes in 88.0% (95/108) and 57.4% (62/108) of patients were lower than 400/μl and 200/μl, respectively. Furthermore, (1, 3)-β-D glucan (BG) increased in 74.4% (67/90) of PJP patients (≥100.0 ng/L). For the imaging results, chest computed tomography (CT) showed diffuse ground-glass shadows/grid shadows in 90% (117/130) patients. Compared with the survival group, higher LDH [690.5 (528.8, 932.3) IU/L vs 502.5 (381.8, 657.0) IU/L, Z=-3.375, P=0.001], white blood cell count (WBC) [9.8 (5.8, 12.6) ×10 9/L vs 7.3 (5.0, 10.1) ×10 9/L, Z=-2.392, P=0.017], and age [(69.8±14.5) years vs (50.6±14.0) years, t=-3.756, P=0.001] were found in the death group. Lower lymphocyte ratio [5.3 (3.2, 9.3) % vs 9.6 (5.6, 17.2) %, Z=?3.262, P=0.001] and oxygen partial pressure (PaO 2) levels [(73.2±20.5) mmHg vs (64.8±17.7) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), t=2.345, P=0.021] were also observed in the death group. Furthermore, in the death group, the bacterial and fungal infection rate was higher than the rates in the survival group [55.1% (27/51) vs 21.5% (22/103), χ 2=15.372, P=0.001]. Conclusions:Long-term use of immunosuppressive agents or glucocorticoids predispose to PJP. CD4+T-lymphocytes, LDH, and BG might be used as important auxiliary examinations for PJP patients. Age, LDH, WBC, lymphocyte ratio, PaO 2 and possible combinations with bacterial or fungal infections are more closely related to the prognostic of PJP patients.

T cell immune checkpoint pathways contribute to tumor immune escape. Many studies have shown that immune checkpoint is demonstrably correlated with tumor grade or prognosis in several types of malignancies and immune checkpoint has become a new biological index for tumor detection and prognosis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising tumor outcomes in clinical trials for some advanced solid tumors and it will become a new target for cancer immunotherapy. In this review we will explore the correlation between expressions of immune checkpoint-associated genes and proteins in immune microenviroment and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and specifically will discuss how this pathway can be manipulated with immune therapeutic drugs.

Few studies have described the key features and prognostic roles of lung microbiota in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP). We prospectively enrolled consecutive SCAP patients admitted to ICU. Bronchoscopy was performed at bedside within 48 h of ICU admission, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was applied to the collected bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The primary outcome was clinical improvements defined as a decrease of 2 categories and above on a 7-category ordinal scale within 14 days following bronchoscopy. Sixty-seven patients were included. Multivariable permutational multivariate analysis of variance found that positive bacteria lab test results had the strongest independent association with lung microbiota (R² = 0.033; P = 0.018), followed by acute kidney injury (AKI; R² = 0.032; P = 0.011) and plasma MIP-1β level (R² = 0.027; P = 0.044). Random forest identified that the families Prevotellaceae, Moraxellaceae, and Staphylococcaceae were the biomarkers related to the positive bacteria lab test results. Multivariable Cox regression showed that the increase in α-diversity and the abundance of the families Prevotellaceae and Actinomycetaceae were associated with clinical improvements. The positive bacteria lab test results, AKI, and plasma MIP-1β level were associated with patients' lung microbiota composition on ICU admission. The families Prevotellaceae and Actinomycetaceae on admission predicted clinical improvements.
Acute Kidney Injury/complications* ; Bacteria/classification* ; Chemokine CCL4/blood* ; Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology* ; Humans ; Lung ; Microbiota/genetics* ; Pneumonia, Bacterial/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics*