Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical application of 2 μm thulium laser in pulmonary nodules resection under VATS.Methods 61 patients,undergoing thoracoscopic resection of pulmonary nodules in thoracic department of Xuanwu Hospital,were identified between January and December of 2016.Of those,30 underwent 2μm thulium laser dissection and 31 were treated with standard technique by using staplers.In terms of clinical characteristics,including gender,age and smoking history,there is no significant difference between the laser group and the stapler group,but the lesion size was slightly larger in the stapler group compared with the laser group.The lesions of the two groups were almost evenly distributed on the five lobes.Results All the procedures were performed successfully under VATS.The intraoperative evaluation of air leaks demonstrated that less than or equal to 2 grade air leaks were observed in 28 cases in the laser group and in 30 cases in the stapler group.Grade 3 air leaks requiring a rescue treatment were observed in 2 cases in the laser group and in 1 case in the stapler group.There were no significant differences in the postoperative hospital stay and total hospital stay between two groups.Chest tube duration was lower in the laser group compared with the stapler group even if it was not statistically significant (2.71 vs 3.55 days).Hospitalization costs was significantly lower for the laser group.Conclusion The use of 2um thulium laser to prevent intra-and postoperative air leaks and bleeding is effective and makes patients recover quickly,which allows a minimally invasive,accurate and safe application during thoracoscopic resection of pulmonary nodules.

OBJECTIVETo analyze potential mutations of NOTCH3 gene in a Chinese family featuring cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarct and leucoencephalopathy (CADASIL) in order to facilitate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.

METHODSThe proband and related family members and 100 healthy controls were recruited. The NOTCH3 gene was screened for mutations by polymerase chain reaction and direct DNA sequencing. PolyPhen-2 and SIFT software were used to predict the protein function.

RESULTSThe proband and two affected individuals from the family were adult-onset, with main clinical manifestations including recurrent transient ischemic attacks and(or) strokes, cognitive impairment, memory decline, and depression. MRI findings suggested multiple cerebral infarcts and severe leukoencephalopathy. A novel heterozygous missense mutation c.3043T> A (p.Cys1015Ser) located in exon 19 of NOTCH3 gene was identified not only in the proband and two patients, but also in an asymptomatic relative from the family. The same mutation was detected in none of the 100 unrelated healthy controls. Function analysis suggested that this mutation can severely affect the functions of this protein. Multiple sequence alignment revealed that the mutation site was extremely conserved in various species.

CONCLUSIONA novel heterozygous Cys1015Ser mutations in exon 19 of the NOTCH3 gene probably underlies the CADASIL in this family.

Adult ; Aged ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; CADASIL ; complications ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; genetics ; Family Health ; Female ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Notch3 ; Receptors, Notch ; genetics ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Objective To investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on male semen quality through meta-analysis and retrospec-tive study.Methods Literature retrieval was conducted in PubMed,CNKI,Wanfang Database and CBM database.Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0.The male patients meeting the inclusion criteria from our hospital were enrolled as study subjects.General demographic data and semen parameters were collected.Single factor analysis of variance and graphing of semen parameters were con-ducted using GraphPad Prism 9.5.1.The test level was set at 0.05.Results A total of 9 studies involving 267 patients were included in the meta-analysis.There were no significant differences in sperm concentration and survival rate before and after SARS-CoV-2 infec-tion(P＞0.05).Semen volume and percentage of normal morphology significantly increased during 1-3 months after infection(P=0.005,P=0.010),with semen volume recovering to pre-infection level＞3 months later(P＞0.05).Sperm motility and progressive mo-tility increased＞3 months after infection(P=0.046,P=0.045),recovering to pre-infection levels(P=0.099,P=0.098).Sperm DNA fragmentation index may be temporarily elevated within 3 months after infection but gradually decreased＞3 months later.In the retrospective study of 8 cases,there were no statistical differences in semen parameters at different stages compared with pre-infection(P＞0.05),but semen parameters showed a negative trend during＜1 month after infection and recovered to pre-infection levels＞3 months later.Conclusion The results of this laboratory study are basically consistent with the meta-analysis.SARS-CoV-2 infection in males only caused short-term negative effects on sperm morphology,vitality and DNA integrity,but generally recovered to pre-infection levels＞3 months after infection.Due to the limitations of study subjects and sample size,the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on male semen quality needs to be further confirmed by long-term large-scale prospective studies.

Objective:To detect serum Col2-3/4 C-terminal cleavage product of type Ⅱ collagen (C2C) and pyridinoline (PYD) among brucellosis patients at early period, and to provide a better understanding of the changes of bone and joint collagen metabolism in the early stage of brucellosis.Methods:From 2013 to 2016, 61 cases of brucellosis patients at early period (within 6 months) from brucellosisout patient of Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control were selected as case group, and 67 cases of healthy volunteers were selected as control group. Serum C2C and PYD levels in all samples were measured simultaneously with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results:The median serum C2C of patients with early brucellosis was 83.45 ng/ml and that of the control group was 73.35 ng/ml. There was significant difference in serum C2C between the case group and the control group ( Z = 5.027, P < 0.05). The median serum PYD of patients with early brucellosis was 278.45 nmol/L and that of the control group was 212.75 nmol/L. There was significant difference in serum PYD between the case group and the control group ( Z = 6.967, P < 0.05). Conclusion:Serum C2C and PYD levels of brucellosis patients at early period are increased.

BACKGROUND: When lung cancer screening work extensively developed in recent years, more and more small lung lesions were found in clinic. The aim of this study is to analysis computed tomography (CT) guided percutaneous biopsy for lung small lesions (diameter<2 cm) on results, complications and prognosis. METHODS: Choose CT guided percutaneous lung biopsy were performed in 41 cases of pulmonary peripheral lesions, single lesion in 39 cases, multiple lesions in 2 cases, 5-20 (13.1±5.2) mm in maximum diameter, depth from lung surface 1-45 (16.5±13.7) mm, ground-glass opacity (GGO) components 0%-100% (66.8%±35.2%). RESULTS: 41 patients and 43 biopsies successfully obtained pathological tissue. Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia in 3 cases, squamous carcinoma in 1 case, adenocarcinoma in 37 cases( carcinoma in situ in 7 cases, micro-invasive carcinoma in 5 cases, invasive adenocarcinoma in 25 cases, double primary lung cancer in 2 cases), inflammatory lesions in 2 cases. Except 2 cases of inflammatory lesions are in follow-up, biopsy and surgical pathology alignment (specificity) was 100%. 41 patients occurred complications related to percutaneous biopsy. Pneumothorax were in 22 cases, drainage required in 2 cases. There were 17 cases with hemoptysis, accounting for 39.5% incidence are self-limited. Intracranial air embolism occurred in 2 cases by 4.6% incidence. They were fully recovered. CONCLUSIONS For small lung lesions, CT guided percutaneous biopsy is technically feasible. However, for small lung lesions especially pure GGO biopsy, it is still need to be cautious.
Adult ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tumor Burden

Objective     To study the short-term outcome and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) combined with recombinant human endostatin (endostar) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods     Between December 2013 and December 2014, 80 consecutive patients (50 males, 30 females) with biopsy-proved NSCLC were divided into two groups: a RFA combined treatment group (RFA combined with endostar, 60 patients, 38 males, 22 females, mean age at 67.77±10.43 years) and a RFA alone group (20 patients, 12 males, 8 females, mean age at 67.35±9.82 years). The RFA combined treatment group was divided into three groups according to vascular normalization window of endostar and 20 patients in each group: a combined treatment group 1 (transfusion of endostar after RFA), a combined treatment group 2 (transfusion of endostar for 1 to 3 d before RFA) and a combined treatment group 3 (transfusion of endostar for 4 to 7 d before RFA). The CT scan of the chest was followed up after the treatment, local recurrence and safety was observed. Results    There was a statistical difference in local recurrence time among groups (χ2 = 11.05, P =0.011). The effect of the combined treatment group is better than that of the radiofrequency ablation therapy alone group. And in the recombinant human endostatin of tumor vascular normalization time best combination therapy was observed in the near future effect compared with the radiofrequency ablation therapy alone. In this study common complications were associated with radiofrequency ablation. No recombinant human endostatin related complication was found. There was no satistical difference in safety between the combined treatment group and the radiofrequency ablation therapy  group (χ2= 0.889, P > 0.05). Conclusion     RFA combined with endostar is safe and effective for non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the anti-depressive potential mechanisms of Kaixin Powder (KP), a drug that helps to prevent and treat depression and other mentaldiseases, from genome-wide transcriptome profiling. METHODS: Transcriptome and KEGG pathway analysis were conducted on the hippocampus of depressed rats, then the differentially expressed genes were validated and serum concentration of lipid parameters were identified by enzymatic assays. Furthermore, high-fat diets induced depression-like behaviors in Syrian golden hamsters were conducted to verify the predicted molecular mechanisms acquired from the transcriptome analysis. RESULTS: Transcriptome results revealed that the 24 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in chronic mild stress (CMS) rats could be reversed after two weeks of KP treatment. The mechanisms of KP in treating depression firstly involved the regulation of several pathology modules, including lipid metabolism, synapse function and inflammation. KP could regulate imbalances of lipid homeostasis in high-fat diet induced depressive symptoms. Furthermore, it was validated that cholesterol metabolism dysfunction can be ameliorated by KP, which was correlated with upregulation of the AdipoR1-BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) co-regulatory pathway. CONCLUSION Taken together, our results demonstrated that KP not only alleviates depression via traditional mental illness targets, but it may also simulates the cholesterol metabolism and adiponectin signaling with multi-target characteristics.