Objective:To evaluate the effect of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) on neurogenesis decline in sleep-deprived infancy rats.Methods:Seventy-eight clean-grade healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 7 days, weighing 10-15 g, were divided into 3 groups ( n=26 each) using a random number table method: control group (group Con), sleep deprivation group (group SD) and sleep deprivation plus NMN group (group SD+ NMN). Sleep deprivation model was established by gentle stimulation method with a brush (10 h per day) for 14 consecutive days.NMN 500 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected in group SD+ NMN, while the equal volume of aqua pura was given instead in Con and SD groups.5′-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) 100 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected immediately after the end of sleep deprivation to label the new-born cells.At 24 h after completion of sleep deprivation, the stem cell pluripotency transcription factor (SOX2) and doublecortin (DCX) positive cells in the hippocampal DG region were counted using immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical methods, and positron emission tomography-computed tomography was used to observe the metabolism of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose in the hippocampus.At 4 weeks after completion of sleep deprivation, the number of neuronal nuclei antigen (NeuN)/BrdU and glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP)/BrdU positive cells in hippocampal DG region was recorded using immunofluorescence, and novel object recognition test was performed to evaluate the cognitive function. Results:Compared with group Con, the number of SOX2 and DCX positive cells was significantly reduced, the standard uptake value of glucose in the hippocampus was decreased, the number of NeuN/BrdU and GFAP/BrdU positive cells was reduced, and discrimination index in novel object recognition test was decreased in group SD ( P<0.05). Compared with group SD, the number of SOX2, DCX NeuN/BrdU and GFAP/BrdU positive cells was increased, the standard uptake value of glucose in the hippocampus was increased, and discrimination index in novel object recognition test was increased in group SD+ NMN ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Nicotinamide mononucleotide can promote neurogenesis, thus improving cognitive function, and the mechanism is related to increasing the metabolism of hippocampal glucose in sleep-deprived infancy rats.

To effectively introduce and utilize global advanced educational resources, the implementation of Chinese-foreign joint education program in medical universities and the establishment of an internal quality assurance system with Chinese characteristics and substantially equivalent to international standards of medical education is crucial for improving the quality of Chinese medical talent cultivation and achieving high-quality development of education opening up to the outside world in the new era. Using the Chinese-Foreign Joint Education Program jointly run by Chongqing Medical University and University of Leicester as an example, this paper proposes a plan for the development of an internal quality assurance system with three core indicators of management mechanism, team building, and student services. This plan provides experience and a reference for domestic universities to carry out cross-border medical education and improve the quality and efficiency of Chinese-foreign joint education programs.

Objectives:To explore the effects of interatrial shunt on cardiac function and clinical prognosis of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF). Methods:This study was a prospective single-arm study.From December 2021 to December 2022,15 consecutive patients with HFrEF from Beijing Anzhen Hospital were enrolled in this study.Interatrial shunt was performed with a D-Shant atrial shunt device.Right heart catheterization was performed before and immediately after device implantation,pulmonary capillary wedge pressure(PCWP),mean right atrial pressure(RAP),interatrial gradient pressure,mean pulmonary artery pressure,total pulmonary resistance(TPR),pulmonary vascular resistance(PVR),cardiac index(CI),and pulmonary/systemic blood flow ratio(Qp/Qs)were measured.Patients were followed-up for 12 months after procedure,changes in cardiac structure and function were evaluated by echocardiography.NYHA classification,6-minute walking distance(6MWD),and Kansas City cardiomyopathy questionnaire(KCCQ)were observed.All-cause mortality and rehospitalization for heart failure served as clinical endpoints. Results:Interatrial shunt procedure was successful in all patients.Compared with preoperative value,PCWP,interatrial gradient pressure,mean pulmonary artery pressure,and TPR were significantly decreased,while Qp/Qs was significantly increased immediately after procedure(all P<0.01).There were no significant changes in RAP,PVR,and CI post procedure(all P>0.05).There were no significant differences in shunt size,shunt velocity,and shunt pressure difference between postoperative immediately and at 12-months follow-up(all P>0.05).At 12 months,left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly higher than baseline level(P<0.05),and there were no significant changes in right atrial diameter and right ventricular fractional area change(both P>0.05).Compared with preoperative status,NYHA classification was improved,KCCQ score was increased,and the number of patients with 6MWD>450 m was increased at 12 months(all P<0.05).N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide value was significantly decreased at 12 months(P<0.05).No patient died during the 12-months follow-up period,and there were no device-related adverse events.Two patients experienced hospital readmission for heart failure. Conclusions:Implantation of interatrial shunt device could effectively improve hemodynamic parameters in patients with HFrEF and is related to significantly improved cardiac function at 12-months follow-up.

[Abstract] Objective: To investigate the function and mechanism of ferroptosis in the radiation resistance of colorectal tumor-repopulating cells. Methods: Human colorectal tumor cells HCT116 (defined as Control cells) were cultured in two-dimensional normal conditions, and tumor regenerative cells with high tumorigenicity (defined as TRCs) were cultured and screened in three-dimensional fibrin soft gels by the mechanical force method. Both the control group and TRC group cells were exposed to X-rays with different doses (2, 4, 6, 8 Gy) and MTS and the clone formation assay were used tomeasure the cell viability rate and proliferation ability. After the Control cells and TRCs were treated with ferroptosis inducer (Erastin) and X-rays respectively, they were stained with C11-BODIPY reagent, and the lipid peroxidation level of the cells was observed and determined by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. qPCR was used to determine the effects of Erastin and X-rays treatments on the expressions of ferroptosis-related genes glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and acyl-coenzyme A synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) in the Control cells and TRCs; WB assay was performed to determine the effects on the expressions of ferroptosis-related proteins GPX4 and ACSL4. Results: Colorectal TRCs with high stemness were cultured and screened out from soft fibrin gels. After irradiation with different doses (2, 4, 6, 8 Gy) of X-rays, the viability rate, the clone sizeand the number of clones in the control group were significantly lower than those in the TRC group (all P<0.05). After the cells in the control group were irradiated with different doses of X-rays (4, 8 Gy) and treated with Erastin, the lipid peroxidation level of the cells in the X-ray treated group was significantly higher than that in the untreated group (P<0.05). The lipid peroxidation level of the cells in the Erastin-treated group was significantly higher than that in the DMSO-treated group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference among all treatment subgroups in the TRC group (all P>0.05). The mechanism study indicated that compared with those in control cells, GPX4 and ACSL4 in TRCs under ferroptosis-inducing conditions (X-ray radiation and Erastin treatment) presented expressions that contributed more to radiation resistance, i.e., continued upregulation of GPX4 and downregulation of ACSL4 and their expressions were dependent on the doses of Erastin. Conclusion: Colorectal TRCs may resist ferroptosis through a high expression of GPX4 and a low expression of ACSL4, which in turn induces radiation resistance.

Objective:To evaluate the outcomes and prognostic factors of myelodysplasia syndrome with excess blasts (MDS-EB) patients on intensive chemotherapy or hypomethylating agent treatment prior to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).Methods:A total of 108 MDS-EB patients undergoing allo-HSCT from April 2015 to September 2019 were collected retrospectively, intensive chemotherapy or hypomethylating agent treatment (IC/HAM) group, n=72; support care (SC) group, n=36. Clinical outcomes and prognostic risk factors were analyzed. Results:Intensive chemotherapy or hypomethylating agent treatment pre-HSCT had no effects on overall survival (OS) ( P=0.725), relapse-free survival (RFS)( P=0.658), cumulative incidence rate (CIR) ( P=0.121) or non-relapse mortality (NRM)( P=0.236). Univariate and multivariate analysis of an entire cohort showed that poor cytogenetics was an independent risk factor for OS ( P=0.005), DFS ( P=0.001) and CIR( P=0.032); grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ acute graft venous host disease was independently correlated with unfavorable DFS( P=0.004). Conclusions:IC/HAM treatment pre-HSCT fails to yield discrepant post-HSCT outcomes in MDS-EB patients. The pooling of more patients in a well-designed multi-center clinical trial will further demonstrate the efficacy of treatment pre-HSCT in MDS-EB patients.

The typical hallmark of tumor evolution is metabolic dysregulation. In addition to secreting immunoregulatory metabolites, tumor cells and various immune cells display different metabolic pathways and plasticity. Harnessing the metabolic differences to reduce the tumor and immunosuppressive cells while enhancing the activity of positive immunoregulatory cells is a promising strategy. We develop a nanoplatform (CLCeMOF) based on cerium metal-organic framework (CeMOF) by lactate oxidase (LOX) modification and glutaminase inhibitor (CB839) loading. The cascade catalytic reactions induced by CLCeMOF generate reactive oxygen species "storm" to elicit immune responses. Meanwhile, LOX-mediated metabolite lactate exhaustion relieves the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, preparing the ground for intracellular regulation. Most noticeably, the immunometabolic checkpoint blockade therapy, as a result of glutamine antagonism, is exploited for overall cell mobilization. It is found that CLCeMOF inhibited glutamine metabolism-dependent cells (tumor cells, immunosuppressive cells, etc.), increased infiltration of dendritic cells, and especially reprogrammed CD8⁺ T lymphocytes with considerable metabolic flexibility toward a highly activated, long-lived, and memory-like phenotype. Such an idea intervenes both metabolite (lactate) and cellular metabolic pathway, which essentially alters overall cell fates toward the desired situation. Collectively, the metabolic intervention strategy is bound to break the evolutionary adaptability of tumors for reinforced immunotherapy.

Objective    To compare the clinical outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in oncology and non-oncology patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Methods    A computer-based search in PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang databases from their date of inception to December 2021 was performed, together with reference screening, to identify eligible clinical trials. Two investigators screened the articles, extracted data, and evaluated quality independently. RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 softwares were used for meta-analysis. Results    The selected 8 cohort studies contained 57 988 patients, including 12 335 cancer patients and 45 653 non-cancer patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that in patients with cancer, the 30-day mortality [OR=0.74, 95%CI (0.65, 0.84), I2=0%, P<0.000 01], stroke [OR=0.87, 95%CI (0.76, 0.99), I2=0%, P=0.04] and acute kidney injury [OR=0.81, 95%CI (0.76, 0.85), I2=49%, P<0.000 01] were lower than those in patients without cancer. The 1-year mortality [OR=1.46, 95%CI (1.15, 1.86), I2=62%, P=0.002] and late mortality [OR=1.51, 95%CI (1.24, 1.85), I2=61%, P<0.000 1] were higher in patients with cancer. Conclusion    It is effective and safe in cancer patients with severe AS undergoing TAVI. However, compared with patients without cancer, it is still high in long-term mortality, and further study of the role of TAVI in cancer patients with AS is necessary.

ObjectiveTo explore the current status and issues regarding the application of ancient books in clinical practice guidelines and expert consensus of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） published in China， and to provide methodological recommendations for the incorporation of ancient books in the development of TCM guidelines. MethodsWe searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， WanFang Data， VIP， SinoMed， PubMed， Embase， as well as six industry websites including China Association of Chinese Medicine， National Group Standards Information Platform， and Chinese Association of the Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine，etc. TCM clinical practice guidelines or expert consensus issued during January 1st， 2017， to November 26th， 2022 were searched. Clinical practice guidelines or expert consensus that explicitly referred to ancient books were included， and the content regarding the searching for ancient books， sources of access to ancient books， methods of evaluating the level of evidence， methods of evaluating the level of recommendation， and methods of evaluating the evidence for the ancient books were analysed. ResultsA total of 1,215 TCM clinical practice guidelines or expert consensus were retrieved， with 442 articles explicitly mentioning the application of ancient books， including 300 （67.87%） clinical practice guidelines and 142 （32.13%） expert consensus. Sixty of the 442 publications explicitly reported that ancient books searching had been conducted （13.57%）； among these 60 publications 27 （45.00%） explicitly reported ancient books searching strategies， and the most frequent method was manual searching with a total of 24 articles （40.00%）. The most popular search source was Chinese Medical Dictionary， a TCM classics database， with a total of 18 articles. 197 articles （44.57%） explicitly reported the evaluation criteria for the level of evidence， of which 141 articles （71.57%） involved the evaluation criteria for the ancient books； 413 articles （93.44%） mentioned ancient books in the recommendations， and only the source of formula name was mentioned in 409 （99.03%） of the publications. ConclusionThe current application of ancient books in TCM clinical practice guidelines and expert consensus is limited， with issues of non-standard searching and evaluation methods. Standar-dization and uniformity are needed in evidence grading and recommendation standards. Future research should clarify the scope and methods of applying ancient book， emphasize their integration with modern research evidence， and enhance their value and quality in the development of TCM clinical practice guidelines.