Object To investigate the chemical constituents from the roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. Methods The constituents were isolated on normal and reversed silica gel column chromatography and their structures were identified by spectral evidence. Results A new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin and twelve known compounds, including two triterpenoid saponins, two cumarins and eight flavonoids, were isolated. Conclusion The new compound was elucidated as 3-O-[β-D-(6-methyl) glucuronopyranosyl (1→2)-D-glucuronopyranosyl]-24-hydroxy-glabrolide on the basis of ESI-MS, 1HNMR,13CNMR, HMQC and HMBC spectral evidence.

Objective To study the effects of bioartificial kidney(BAK)treatment on cytokines interleukin-10(IL-10)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),biochemistry indexes,and survival time in acute uremic pigs with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS).Method Pigs with MODS and acute renal failure(ARF)were treated with BAK(group A,n = 6)or sham BAK containing no cells(group B,n = 6)or received no treatment(group C,n = 5).Data on blood pressure,hepatic and renal functions,serum IL-10 and TNF-α levels,arterial blood gas and survival time of all the pigs were recorded.Comparisons of values were done using Student's t-test or repeated-measures analysis of variance(ANOVA).ResultsMean arterial pressure(MAP,mmHg)responsed more rapidly and reached higher values in group A (91.82±5.73)compared with group B and C at 24 hours(P＜0.01).The peak level of serum EL-10(pg/mL)ingroupA(249.57±43.51)was significantly higher than that in group B and C(132.06± 17.53,104.25 ±13.42,P＜0.01).Serum TNF-a level(pg/mL)in group A dropped gradually to(402.91 ± 32.47)at 24 hours,and had significant discrepancy compared with that before the treatment(537.16 ± 38.45)and that in groupB(P＜0.05).The average survival time(hours)in group A(113.01 ± 14.32)was significantly longer than that in the group B and C(P＜0.01),which was prolonged by 35.93%and 63.90%,respectively.ConclusionsTreatment with BAK can prolong the survival time of uremic pigs with MODS,possibly through ameliorating the MAP,increasing the level of IL-10 and reducing the concentration of TNF-α.

We analyze the epidemiology,clinical features,and outcome of the patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases (CJD) in Guizhou Province from 2010 to 2015.The epidemiology,clinical characteristics and follow-up data of CJD suspected patients obtained from Guizhou CJD surveillance network were analyzed.The testing results of cerebrospinal fluid (CFS) and blood from the patients were also collected and analyzed.Results showed that a total of 11 CJD cases was found from 23 reported CJD suspected patients in Guizhou from 2010 to 2015,including 8 probable sporadic CJD(sCJD) cases,2 possible sCJD cases and 1 genetic CJD(gCJD) case.In 11 cases,rapidly progressive dementia was the major initial symptom,following by mental symptoms,extrapyramidal symptoms,signs and cerebellum cortical blindness.Clinical symptoms of progressive dementia were the main symptoms,following by visual or cerebellar dysfunction,myoclonus,cone system/extrapyramidal dysfunction,and akinetic mutism.Most of cases were abnormal in MRI (45.45％) and 14-3-3 protein detection in CSF(70％).The 14-3-3 blood samples of prion gene 129 amino acids (PRNP)polymorphisms were M/M type,excepting for 1 case gCJD confirmed diagnosis cases with D178N mutation in PRNP gene.Eleven CJD cases did not show season and regional clusterings and vocational tendency.The majority of the cases were male,the median age was 65,and mainly were the Han nationality.For all cases of CJD reported during that year for follow-up,the lost-tofollow-up rate was 27％,and the majority of cases died within one year.The sCJD cases were the majority in CJD cases of Guizhou Province,2010-2015.The epidemiological characteristics were similar to the national monitoring cases in the same period.

Background::Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as a promising strategy against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). One of the immunosuppressive pathways involves programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), but many patients derived little benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockades treatment. Prior research has shown that MYC, a master transcription amplifier highly expressed in TNBC cells, can regulate the tumor immune microenvironment and constrain the efficacy of immunotherapy. This study aims to investigate the regulatory relationship between MYC and PD-L1, and whether a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor that inhibits MYC expression in combination with anti-PD-L1 antibodies can enhance the response to immunotherapy. Methods::Public databases and TNBC tissue microarrays were used to study the correlation between MYC and PD-L1. The expression of MYC and PD-L1 in TNBCs was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. A patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDTX) model was used to evaluate the influence of a CDK7 inhibitor THZ1 on PD-L1 expression. Cell proliferation and migration were detected by 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) cell proliferation and cell migration assays. Tumor xenograft models were established for in vivo verification. Results::A high MYC expression level was associated with a poor prognosis and could alter the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). The positive correlation between MYC and PD-L1 was confirmed by immunostaining samples from 165 TNBC patients. Suppression of MYC in TNBC caused a reduction in the levels of both PD-L1 messenger RNA and protein. In addition, antitumor immune response was enhanced in the TNBC cancer xenograft mouse model with suppression of MYC by CDK7 inhibitor THZ1. Conclusions::The combined therapy of CDK7 inhibitor THZ1 and anti-PD-L1 antibody appeared to have a synergistic effect, which might offer new insight for enhancing immunotherapy in TNBC.

AIM: To investigate the preoperative ocular symptoms and the characteristics of asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities in hospitalized patients with primary pterygium.METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Hospitalized patients diagnosed with primary pterygium and scheduled to receive pterygium excision surgery at the Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University from August 2022 to October 2022 were enrolled. Ocular surface disease index questionnaire(OSDI), six examinations including non-invasive tear film break-up time, Schirmer I test, tear meniscus height, lid margin abnormality, meibomian gland dropout and tear film lipid layer thickness, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT)were performed and statistically analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 178 cases(178 eyes), with a mean age of 54.39±10.75 years old, were recruited, including 75 males(42.1%)and 103 females(57.9%). The average values of ocular surface parameters in these patients included OSDI: 11.47±9.69, tear film break-up time: 7.10±3.86 s; tear meniscus height: 0.16±0.07 mm, Schirmer I test values: 14.39±7.29 mm/5 min, and pterygium thickness: 504.74±175.87 μm. Totally 161 eyes(90.4%)presented with abnormal lid margin, 44 eyes(24.7%)presented with meibomian gland dropout score ≥4, 52 eyes(29.2%)presented with low lipid layer thickness. In the 6 objective examinations, abnormalities in at least 4 of these tests were found in 85.4% of eyes. Pterygium morphology was classified into four grades: 10 eyes(5.6%)of grade Ⅰ, 93 eyes(52.2%)of grade Ⅱ, 60 eyes(33.7%)of grade Ⅲ, and 15 eyes(8.4%)of grade Ⅳ. In patients with a higher grade of pterygium, the tear film break-up time was lower, and the proportion of abnormal lid margin was also significantly higher(P<0.05). The patients were further divided into two subgroups, including 121 eyes(68.0%)with normal OSDI <13 in the normal group and 57 eyes(32.0%)with OSDI ≥13 in the abnormal group. No significant difference was found in the proportion of meibomian gland dysfunction between the two groups of patients(71.9% vs. 71.9%, P=0.872). In addition, there were differences in the number of abnormal objective examinations(4.11±0.85 vs. 4.91±0.99, P<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities were present preoperatively in patients hospitalized for primary pterygium. A comparable high incidence of structural or functional meibomian gland dysfunction existed in pterygium patients with or without apparent ocular discomfort. More attention should be paid to the ocular surface abnormalities in those asymptomatic patients before primary pterygium surgery.