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Long non-coding RNA(LncRNA)has attracted increasing attention over the recent years. It is closely related to the occurrence and development of human diseases based on numerous academic researches. Analysis of the biological function of LncRNA in depth may lead to great breakthroughs in clarifying pathogenesis of many diseases and provide possible targets for intervention. Recent studies have revealed the importance of LncRNA in the progression of heart failure(HF), the final stage of many cardiovascular diseases. This review summarized the new findings of LncRNA in prognosis and treatment of HF.

Objective:To explore the potential categories of return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer and analyze the influencing factors, so as to provide theoretical basis for implementing precise interventions of occupational rehabilitation.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. A convenient sampling method was used to select 257 postoperative patients with thyroid cancer in Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University from May 2022 to July 2023. The General Information Questionnaire, Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Cancer Fatigue Scale were used for investigation. Latent profile analysis was used to explore the potential categories of return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer. Logistic regression and decision tree were used to analyze the influencing factors of different potential categories.Results:Finally, 250 postoperative patients with thyroid cancer were included. There were 76 males and 174 females, aged (37.91 ± 8.04) years old. The return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer was divided into 2 potential categories: low return-to-work self-efficacy group (72.0%, 180/250) and high return-to-work self-efficacy group (28.0%, 70/250). Logistic regression showed education, thyrotropin suppressive therapy, cancer-related fatigue and age were factors influencing the potential categories of return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer ( OR values were 0.951 - 19.820, all P<0.05). Decision tree model showed education level and cancer-related fatigue were the most important factors ( χ2 = 31.40, 16.95, both P<0.05). Conclusions:There were two potential categories of return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer. Most of them had low levels of return-to-work self-efficacy. Health care professionals should focus on patients who are less educated and having cancer-related fatigue, meanwhile, should not ignore patients who are substandard thyrotropin suppressive therapy, and older. Implement precise interventions of occupational rehabilitation to improve the return-to-work self-efficacy of postoperative patients with thyroid cancer so as to help them reintegrate into society.

Objective:To access the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous endoscopic debridement (PED) combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (PPSF) in the treatment of lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis.Methods:49 patients (male 29, female 20), aged 51.2±13.9 years (range 19-81 years), who were diagnosed with lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis and received PED with PPSF in Orthopedic Department, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital and Zhuhai People's Hospital from January 2014 to March 2017, were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were operated in the prone position with the infected locus thoroughly debrided, vertebrae fixed and clinical outcomes were assessed by observing the changes of complaining symptoms, laboratory parameters, clinical functional scores (American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale, AIS; visual analog scale, VAS; Oswestry disability index, ODI) and imaging studies during perioperative and follow-up stages.Results:The mean operative time was 110.1±19.8 min (80-165 min), with intra-operative blood loss 47.8±20.6 ml (range 20-120 ml). All patients reported relief of back pain. Causative pathogens were identified in 36 of 49 biopsy specimens, with staphylococcal bacteria being the most prevalent strain (accounting for 50.0%). During 3-12 months' follow-up, 95.9% (47/49) patients' infection was well-controlled. At 3 month post-operative, C-reactive protein declined from 62.1±37.2 mg/L to 7.5±5.8 mg/L, white blood cell declined from (14.2±3.9)×10 9/L to (6.2±1.1)×10 9/L, ESR declined from 90.3±37.4 mm/1 h to 16.9±7.2 mm/1 h, and the values at 3 months post-operative had significant difference compared with values at pre-operative ( t=10.15, P<0.001; t=13.49, P<0.001; t=13.82, P<0.001). Spontaneous fusion was observed among 56.8% (21/37) of the patients during long-term radiological follow-ups (more than 1.5 years). At the last follow-up, the VAS declined from 7.4±0.6 points pre-operative to 0.5±0.3 post-operative, ODI declined from 78.2%±9.1% pre-operative to 14.0%±8.6% post-operative, and the values at the last follow-up had significant difference compared with values at pre-operative ( t=72.00, P<0.001; t=35.89, P<0.001). There were 38 cases of AIS E, and 11 cases of AIS D at pre-operative, while 43 cases of AIS E and 6 cases of AIS D. However, there were 11 patients developed post-operative complications, among whom 2 with recurrent infection, 2 with secondary neurological impairment. Conclusion:PED combined with PPSF effectively eliminated infected locus, stabilized the affected vertebrae, improved patients' clinical outcomes with small trauma, thereby offering an alternative for the treatment of lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis.

Objective:To investigate the incidence and risk factors of renal injury in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients with poor immune reconstitution.Methods:The HIV infection/AIDS patients with poor immune reconstitution who were visited Second Department of Infection of Hangzhou Xixi Hospital from January to December 2021 were enrolled. The clinical data and laboratory examinations of the patients were collected, and the relevant risk factors were analyzed by logistic regression.Results:Among 303 HIV infection/AIDS patients with poor immune reconstitution, 59(19.5%) patients had renal injury. Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension (odds ratio ( OR)=0.200, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.065 to 0.618, P=0.005), taking tenofovir ( OR=0.275, 95% CI 0.130 to 0.580, P=0.001), hypoproteinemia ( OR=1.045, 95% CI 1.006 to 1.086, P=0.022), and low CD4 + T lymphocytes level ( OR=1.009, 95% CI 1.003 to 1.014, P=0.001) were risk factors for renal injury. Conclusions:The incidence of renal injury in HIV infection/AIDS patients with poor immune reconstitution is high. Hypertension, taking tenofovir, hypoproteinemia, and low CD4 + T lymphocytes level are risk factors for renal injury in patients.

The nucleocapsid protein (N protein) has been found to be an antigenic protein in a number of coronaviruses. Whether the N protein in severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is antigenic remains to be elucidated. Using Western blot and Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), the recombinant N proteins and the synthesized peptides derived from the N protein were screened in sera from SARS patients. All patient sera in this study displayed strong positive immunoreactivities against the recombinant N proteins, whereas normal sera gave negative immunoresponses to these proteins, indicating that the N protein of SARS-CoV is an antigenic protein. Furthermore, the epitope sites in the N protein were determined by competition experiments, in which the recombinant proteins or the synthesized peptides competed against the SARS-CoV proteins to bind to the antibodies raised in SARS sera. One epitope site located at the C-terminus was confirmed as the most antigenic region in this protein. A detailed screening of peptide with ELISA demonstrated that the amino sequence from Codons 371 to 407 was the epitope site at the C-terminus of the N protein. Understanding of the epitope sites could be very significant for developing an effective diagnostic approach to SARS.
Blotting, Western ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epitopes ; chemistry ; immunology ; Humans ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; chemistry ; immunology ; Peptide Fragments ; chemical synthesis ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Proteins ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of SpyGlass endoscopy system (short for SpyGlass) for indeterminate bile duct stricture.Methods:Data of patients who underwent SpyGlass examination for indeterminate bile duct stricture at Hangzhou First People′s Hospital from September 2012 to August 2017 were reviewed. The diagnostic value of SpyGlass for indeterminate bile duct stricture was analyzed.Results:A total of 88 patients with indeterminate biliary stricture were diagnosed with SpyGlass. The procedure success rate was 97.7% (86/88). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of SpyGlass for indeterminate bile duct stricture were 98.1%(52/53), 96.9% (31/32), 97.6% (83/85), 98.1% (52/53)and 96.9% (31/32), respectively. Three patients (3.5%, 3/86) had postoperative complications and were cured by conservative treatment.Conclusion:SpyGlass is safe and effective for indeterminate biliary stricture with high sensitivity and accuracy and low incidence of complications.

Owing to incurable castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) ultimately developing after treating with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), it is vital to devise new therapeutic strategies to treat CRPC. Treatments that target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) have been approved for human cancers with clinical benefit. However, many patients, especially prostate cancer, fail to respond to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment, so it is an urgent need to seek a support strategy for improving the traditional PD-1/PD-L1 targeting immunotherapy. In the present study, analyzing the data from our prostate cancer tissue microarray, we found that PD-L1 expression was positively correlated with the expression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (HnRNP L). Hence, we further investigated the potential role of HnRNP L on the PD-L1 expression, the sensitivity of cancer cells to T-cell killing and the synergistic effect with anti-PD-1 therapy in CRPC. Indeed, HnRNP L knockdown effectively decreased PD-L1 expression and recovered the sensitivity of cancer cells to T-cell killing in vitro and in vivo, on the contrary, HnRNP L overexpression led to the opposite effect in CRPC cells. In addition, consistent with the previous study, we revealed that ferroptosis played a critical role in T-cell-induced cancer cell death, and HnRNP L promoted the cancer immune escape partly through targeting YY1/PD-L1 axis and inhibiting ferroptosis in CRPC cells. Furthermore, HnRNP L knockdown enhanced antitumor immunity by recruiting infiltrating CD8⁺ T cells and synergized with anti-PD-1 therapy in CRPC tumors. This study provided biological evidence that HnRNP L knockdown might be a novel therapeutic agent in PD-L1/PD-1 blockade strategy that enhanced anti-tumor immune response in CRPC.