Objective:To establish the alcoholic fatty liver(AFL) animal models,and to explore the protective effect of Zhi Zi Da Huang Tang (ZZDHT) on the rats with AFL and its dosage.Methods:A total of 54 SD rats were divided into normal control group (n=10) and model control group (n=44).The rats in model control group were given alcohol by lavage (50% ethanol solution 6.0 mL·kg-1) combined with high-fat feed to establish the rat models of AFL.After 4 weeks,the rats in model control group were randomly divided into model group(treated with water),simvastatin group (10 mg·kg-1),low and high doses (5.0 and 10.0 g·kg-1) of ZZDHT groups,and there were 10 rats in each group.Every 2 weeks during the process,the body weights and levels of serum total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),aspertate aminotransferase (AST),and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were detected.After 4 weeks,the body weights and liver weights of the rats were detected;the levels of TC,TG,AST,ALT,alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in serum and liver tissue of the rats of were detected;the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α),interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) in serum of the rats were detected;the morphology of liver tissue was observed by HE staining and the pathological examination was performed.Results:Compared with normal control group,the levels of serum TC,AST,ALT,TG,TNF-α,IL-6,and IL-1β of the rats in model group 4 weeks after administration were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with model group,the levels of serum TC,TG,AST,and ALT of the rats in low and high doses of ZZDHT groups 4 weeks after administration were decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01);the levels of serum TNF-α and IL-6,IL-1β of the rats in high dose of ZZDHT group were decreased (P<0.01);the levels of serum TNF-α and IL-1β of the rats in low dose of ZZDHT group were decreased (P<0.01);the levels of serum ADH and ALDH in liver tissue of the rats in low and high doses of ZZDHT groups and simvastatin group were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).The HE staining result showed that compared with model group,the pathological conditions of the liver tissue of the AFL rats in ZZDHT groups were significantly improved.Conclusion:ZZDHT can significantly improve the liver injury caused by high fat diet combined with alcohol and fat liver lesions.

Objective:To explore the effect of low expression of human epidermal growth factor-like domain protein 6 (EGFL6) gene in human bladder cancer cell 5637 on its proliferation ability in vitro and in vivo.Methods:Human bladder cancer cells 5637 were divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group cells targeted human EGFL6 gene with small interfering RNA (siRNA) , and the control group cells were transfected with Mock-siRNA. The cells in the experimental group and the control group were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The content of EGFL6 mRNA in the medium. CCK8 was used to detect the proliferation ability of cells. Nude mice were injected subcutaneously with human bladder cancer cells 5637 in the experimental and control groups respectively, and the proliferation ability of the cells in vivo was detected by subcutaneous transplantation tumor assay in nude mice. The expression of EGFL6, p-P13K, and p-AKT was detected by western blotting.Results:The expression of EGFL6 was 0.19±0.03 and 0.91±0.11 in the experimental and control groups, respectively. siRNA-EGFL6 decreased the protein expression of EGFL6 in human bladder cancer 5637 cells in the experimental group. CCK8 results showed that the absorbance of the experimental group and the control group were 1.558±0.152 and 2.287±0.182, respectively. The results of subcutaneous tumor transplantation in nude mice showed that the volume of tumor in experimental group and control group was (1192.07±250.9) μm 3 and (2280.5±600.1) μm 3, respectively. The mass were (0.66±0.31) g and (1.52±0.48) g, respectively. The tumor volume and mass of the experimental group decreased after 4 weeks. The results of protein immunoblotting experiments revealed that the expression of p-P13K was 0.79±0.14 and 0.33±0.09 in the control and experimental groups, respectively, and the expression of p-AKT was 0.93±0.13 and 0.28±0.06, respectively, confirming that the expression of p-P13K and p-AKT were decreased in the experimental group of cells compared with the control group. Conclusion:The low expression of EGFL6 can inhibit the proliferation of human bladder cancer cell 5637 in vivo and in vitro through the P13K-AKT signaling pathway.

Objective:To study the effect of miR-539-5p on apalutamide (ARN-509) sensitivity and malignant phenotype of androgen independent prostate cancer cell line C4-2B and related mechanisms.Methods:Castrated resistant prostate cancer, castrated sensitive prostate cancer and benign prostate tissue were obtained. C4-2B cell lines were divided into blank group, transfection group (miR-539-5p plasmid) and control group (control plasmid). qPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-539-5p, androgen receptor (AR) and HSBP1 in the tissues and 3 group of cells. The protein expressions of AR and HSBP1 were detected by western blot. Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion and migration ability of three groups of cells. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the proliferation ability and semi-inhibitory concentration (IC50) of AR antagonist ARN-509. The colony forming ability of the three groups of cells was detected by plate cloning experiment.Results:Tissue-qPCR indicated that, in the benign prostate tissue, tumor tissue of castration sensitive patients and tumor tissue of castration resistant patients, the expressions of miR-539-5p were 0.29 ± 0.04, 0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.07 ± 0.01, the expressions of AR were 0.13 ± 0.02, 0.28 ± 0.04 and 0.79 ± 0.11, and the expressions of HSBP1 were 0.20 ± 0.03, 0.38 ± 0.04 and 0.72 ± 0.11, respectively. Compared with benign prostate tissue and prostate cancer tissue, the expression of AR and HSBP1 gene was higher in prostate cancer tissues with castration resistance, and the expression of miR-539-5p was lower. Cell-qPCR demonstrated that the expressions of miR-539-5p in blank group, control group and transfection group were 1.00±0.09, 1.07±0.11 and 7.19±0.51, the expressions of AR were 1.00±0.10, 1.03±0.14 and 0.51±0.08, and the expressions of HSBP1 were 1.00±0.10, 0.96±0.12 and 0.97±0.11. The expression of miR-539-5p in the transfection cells was significantly higher than that in the control group and the blank group, the expression of AR gene was significantly lower than that in the control group and the blank group, and there was no significant difference in the expression of HSBP1. Western blot showed that, in blank group, control group and transfection group, the protein expressions of AR were 1.00±0.10, 1.12±0.22 and 0.72±0.16, and the expressions of HSBP1 were 1.00±0.10, 0.94±0.18 and 0.48±0.11. The protein expression of AR and HSBP1 in the transfection group was significantly lower than that in the control group and the blank group. Transwell experiment showed that the invasion and migration of cells in the transfection group were significantly lower than that in the control group and the blank group. CCK-8 assay and plate cloning experiment showed that the proliferative capacity and the number of clone formation in the transfection group were significantly lower than those in the control group and the blank group, and the expression of AR and HSBP1 in the transfection group was significantly lower than that in the control group and blank group. Compared with the control group and blank group, the IC50 value of ARN-509 decreased significantly in the transfection group.Conclusion:miR-539-5p may inhibit the malignant phenotype and castration resistance of cells via interfering with the translation level of HSBP1.

Objective:To investigate the expression of coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor (CAR) in thymic carcinoma and the relationship between CAR and the antitumor activity of oncolytic adenovirus H101.Methods:The expression of CAR in thymic carcinoma tissues and cells were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot. H101 expression and virus titers in Bcap-37, MP59 and T1889 cells after infection were detected by RT-qPCR and 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID 50). The proliferation activity and apoptosis rates of T1889 cells infected with H101 at different multiplicity of infection (MOI) were detected by CCK-8 and flow cytometry. CAR expression in T1889 cells treated with different concentrations of trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, was detected. H101 expression and virus titers in the TSA-treated and H101-infected cells were detected. Cell activity was detected by CCK-8. The phosphorylation levels of MARK and ERK1/2 and the expression of CAR at protein level in TSA-treated or TSA+ TBHQ (ERK activator) treated cells were detected. Results:CAR expression at both mRNA and protein levels were significantly lower in thymic carcinoma tissues than in adjacent normal tissues ( P<0.01), and lower in MP59 and T1889 cells than in thymic epithelial cells (TEC) and Bcap-37 cells ( P<0.01). H101 expression in MP59 and T1889 cells and the titers of H101 in culture supernatants were significantly lower than those in Bcap-37 cells ( P<0.01). Compared with Bcap-37 cell, the activity of MP59 and T1889 cells was significantly increased and the apoptosis rates were significantly decreased 48 h after H101 infection ( P<0.01). The expression of CAR at both mRNA and protein levels in T1889 cells treated with different concentrations of TSA increased in a dose-dependent manner. When T1889 cells were treated with 0.25 μmol/L of TSA, the expression of H101 at mRNA level and H101 titers were significantly increased ( P<0.05); the phosphorylation levels of MAPK and ERK1/2 proteins were continuously decreased; the expression of CAR was continuously increased. Compared with the TSA treatment group, the expression of CAR at protein level in the TSA+ TBHQ treatment group decreased significantly ( P<0.01), and the p-ERK1/2/ERK1/2 ratio increased significantly ( P<0.01). Conclusions:TSA could up-regulate CAR expression in thymic carcinoma by inhibiting the MARK/ERK1/2 pathway, thereby enhancing the antitumor activity of H101.

Objective:To explore the safety and short-term and long-term efficacy of robot-assisted radical esophageal cancer surgery.Methods:A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. Patients who were preoperatively diagnosed as stage 0-IIIB esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and suitable for minimally invasive surgery in our hospital from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Those of age ≥75 years having received preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, contradicted to anesthesia or operation due to severe complications, with history of thoracotomy or laparotomy, with concurrent malignant tumors, without complete informations or refusing to participate in this study were excluded. Participants were randomly divided into the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group and the robot group using a random number table in ratio of 1:1. Preoperative clinicopathological data, surgical data and postoperative outcomes were recorded. The patients were followed up mainly by telephone. Follow-up endpoint was recurrence of esophageal cancer and death. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival rate. The survival difference between the two groups was analyzed using the log-rank test.Results:According to above criteria, a total of 192 esophageal cancer patients were enrolled finally, including 144 males and 48 females with mean age of (61.9±8.6) years. The robot group had 94 cases, including 72 males and 22 females with mean age of (61.3±8.2) years, and the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group had 98 cases, including 72 males and 26 females with mean age of (62.4±9.1) years. There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups (all P>0.05). Operation was abandoned in one case in each group due to extensive pleural cavity metastasis and one case in each group was converted to thoracotomy. The success rate of operation was 97.9% (92/94) in the robot group and 98.0% (96/98) in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group (χ 2=0.002, P=0.996). The number of lymph nodes dissected in the robot group was significantly higher than that in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group (29.2±12.5 vs. 22.8±13.3, t=3.433, P=0.001), while there were no significant differences in operative time, intraoperative blood loss, R0 resection rate, postoperative 30-day mortality, postoperative hospital stay, ICU stay, time to withdrawal of chest drainage tube, ICU readmission, and postoperative morbidity of complications between the two groups (all P>0.05). The median follow-up time was 21 (3 to 57) months. During the follow-up, 3 cases and 4 cases were lost, and 2 cases and 3 cases died of other diseases in the robot group and in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group respectively. Recurrence occurred in 39 cases during follow-up, including 14 recurrences in the robotic group with 1- and 3-year recurrence-free survival rates of 92.4% and 87.6% respectively and the median recurrence time of 15 (9 to 42) months. There were 25 recurrences in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group with 1- and 3-year recurrence-free survival rates of 81.7% and 67.9% respectively and the median recurrence time of 9 (3 to 42) months. There was significant difference in recurrence-free survival between the two groups (χ 2=4.193, P=0.041). Conclusions:The robotic surgical system has good oncology effect and surgical safety in the radical operation of esophageal cancer, which deserves further research and promotion.

Objective:To explore the safety and short-term and long-term efficacy of robot-assisted radical esophageal cancer surgery.Methods:A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. Patients who were preoperatively diagnosed as stage 0-IIIB esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and suitable for minimally invasive surgery in our hospital from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Those of age ≥75 years having received preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, contradicted to anesthesia or operation due to severe complications, with history of thoracotomy or laparotomy, with concurrent malignant tumors, without complete informations or refusing to participate in this study were excluded. Participants were randomly divided into the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group and the robot group using a random number table in ratio of 1:1. Preoperative clinicopathological data, surgical data and postoperative outcomes were recorded. The patients were followed up mainly by telephone. Follow-up endpoint was recurrence of esophageal cancer and death. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival rate. The survival difference between the two groups was analyzed using the log-rank test.Results:According to above criteria, a total of 192 esophageal cancer patients were enrolled finally, including 144 males and 48 females with mean age of (61.9±8.6) years. The robot group had 94 cases, including 72 males and 22 females with mean age of (61.3±8.2) years, and the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group had 98 cases, including 72 males and 26 females with mean age of (62.4±9.1) years. There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups (all P>0.05). Operation was abandoned in one case in each group due to extensive pleural cavity metastasis and one case in each group was converted to thoracotomy. The success rate of operation was 97.9% (92/94) in the robot group and 98.0% (96/98) in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group (χ 2=0.002, P=0.996). The number of lymph nodes dissected in the robot group was significantly higher than that in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group (29.2±12.5 vs. 22.8±13.3, t=3.433, P=0.001), while there were no significant differences in operative time, intraoperative blood loss, R0 resection rate, postoperative 30-day mortality, postoperative hospital stay, ICU stay, time to withdrawal of chest drainage tube, ICU readmission, and postoperative morbidity of complications between the two groups (all P>0.05). The median follow-up time was 21 (3 to 57) months. During the follow-up, 3 cases and 4 cases were lost, and 2 cases and 3 cases died of other diseases in the robot group and in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group respectively. Recurrence occurred in 39 cases during follow-up, including 14 recurrences in the robotic group with 1- and 3-year recurrence-free survival rates of 92.4% and 87.6% respectively and the median recurrence time of 15 (9 to 42) months. There were 25 recurrences in the thoracoscopy-laparoscopy group with 1- and 3-year recurrence-free survival rates of 81.7% and 67.9% respectively and the median recurrence time of 9 (3 to 42) months. There was significant difference in recurrence-free survival between the two groups (χ 2=4.193, P=0.041). Conclusions:The robotic surgical system has good oncology effect and surgical safety in the radical operation of esophageal cancer, which deserves further research and promotion.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between triglyceride glucos (TyG), C-reaction protein/albumin (CRP/Alb), 25-hydroxy vitamin D[25(OH)D] and the prognosis of patients with continous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD).Methods:A total of 220 CAPD patients in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from January 2017 to March 2020 were prospectively selected and divided into death group and survival group according to the 6-month prognosis. The peritoneal urea clearance index (Kt/V urea), TyG, CRP/Alb, 25(OH)D were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression was used to analyze the prognostic factors of CAPD patients. The predictive value of TyG, CRP/Alb and 25(OH)D on the prognosis of CAPD patients was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:After 3 months and 6 months of dialysis, the peritoneal Kt/V urea in the death group [(1.21±0.18)ml/(s·1.73 m 2), (1.02±0.14)ml/(s·1.73 m 2)] was significantly lower than that in the survival group [(1.57±0.40)ml/(s·1.73 m 2), (1.49±0.42)ml/(s·1.73 m 2)] (all P<0.05). After 3 months and 6 months of dialysis, the TyG [(8.79±0.86), (9.24±1.03)] and CRP/Alb [(4.98±0.94)×10 -4, (5.14±1.39)×10 -4] in the death group were higher than those in the survival group [(8.03±0.60), (7.26±0.93), (3.57±1.19)×10 -4, (3.07±0.88)×10 -4], while the 25(OH)D [(19.14±2.29)ng/ml, (17.79±3.17)ng/ml] was lower than that of survival group [(22.67±3.03)ng/ml, (24.31±2.51)ng/ml] (all P<0.05). TyG and CRP/Alb at 3 months and 6 months of dialysis were negatively correlated with Kt/V urea, while the 25(OH)D was positively correlated with Kt/V urea (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that Kt/Vurea, TyG, CRP/Alb and 25(OH)D were associated with prognosis in the two groups after 3 and 6 months of dialysis (all P<0.05). The AUC of TyG, CRP/Alb and 25(OH)D at 6 months of dialysis combined to predict the prognosis of CAPD patients was the highest, which was 0.911. Conclusions:TyG, CRP/Alb and 25(OH)D are associated with all-cause mortality in CAPD patients. High TyG and CRP/Alb and low 25(OH)D suggest a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Combined detection of all indicators can effectively predict the prognosis of CAPD, which is convenient for early clinical intervention.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) proposed a set of minimal markers for identifying human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) in 2007. Since then, with the growing interest of better characterising hMSCs, various additional surface markers have been proposed. However, the impact of how culture conditions, in particular, the culture surface, vary the expression of hMSC markers was overlooked. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, we utilized the RNA sequencing data on hMSCs cultured on different surfaces to investigate the variation of the proposed hMSC biomarkers. One of the three ISCT proposed positive biomarker, CD90 was found to be significantly down regulated on hMSCs culture on fibrous surfaces when compared to flat surfaces. The detected gene expression values for 177 hMSCs biomarkers compiled from the literature are reported here. Correlation and cluster analysis revealed the existence of different biomarker communities that displayed a similar expression profile. We found a list of hMSCs biomarkers which are the least sensitive to a change in surface properties and another list of biomarkers which are found to have high sensitivity to a change in surface properties. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that substrate properties have paramount effect on altering the expressions of hMSCs biomarkers and the proposed list of substrate-stable and substrate-sensitive biomarkers would better assist in the population characterisation. However, proteomic level analysis would be essential to confirm the observations noted.
Biomarkers ; Chemistry ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Quality Control ; Regenerative Medicine ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Surface Properties ; Transcriptome

Objective:To investigate the unqualified hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection result of blood donors from the served area of blood institutions.Methods:The data related to HCV markers detected of the first and repeat blood donors were collected from the system of practice comparison for the Chinese mainland blood institutions from 2017 to 2021. The anti-HCV reactive rate and the rates of anti-HCV negative but HCV-RNA reaction and all the relationship between rates and the annual, regional and different blood donors were statistically analyzed.Results:During 2017-2021, the number of anti-HCV reactive per 100 000 blood donors decreased from 444.3 to 250.44 in the served area of 22 blood institutions ( χ2=49.677, P<0.05). The number of HCV RNA detected positive per 100 000 anti-HCV negative increased from 0.69 to 2.05 year by year, but there was no statistical significance ( χ2=0.643, P>0.05). The anti-HCV unqualified rate was significantly different among regions ( χ2=3 260.283, P<0.05). The anti-HCV unqualified rate of the first blood donors was significantly higher than that of the repeated blood donors ( F=130.993, P < 0.05). The annual number of HCV RNA detected positive per 100 000 anti-HCV negative blood samples from donors ranged from 0 to 17.28. Conclusions:The anti-HCV unqualified rate of blood donors in the served area of 22 blood institutions decreased year by year. Compared with repeated blood donors, HCV infection should be emphasized in first-time blood donors. The implementation of HCV RNA test can detect out much more HCV infections and reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted infectious HCV.

Objective This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of concentrated growth factor(CGF)membrane and collagen as barrier materials in sealing the alveolar socket in alveolar ridge preservation(ARP)in the posterior region during a one-year follow-up.Methods A total of 24 pa-tients who underwent ARP in the posterior region were selected for inclusion and randomly assigned to the CGF group(12 cases)and Collagen group(12 cases).The pa-tients in both groups underwent extraction of posterior teeth.The extraction sockets were filled with a bone sub-stitute to the level of the pre-extraction buccal and lingual or palatal alveolar bone plates.The wounds in the CGF group were closed with a fabricated CGF overlaying the upper edge of the bone substitute material,whereas those in the Colla-gen group were closed with Bio-Oss Collagen.The implants were placed after 6 months.The evaluation was based on implant retention,re-grafting rate,and vertical and horizontal alveolar ridge bone volume changes measured by cone beam computed tomography(CBCT).Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 28.0 software.Results No patient withdrew throughout the follow-up period.No implant failure and no severe peri-implant or mucosal soft tissue compli-cations were observed.Six months after the operation,the degree of vertical alveolar ridge height resorption in the CGF group was lower than that in the Collagen group(P<0.05).There were no statistically difference between the groups at 1 year after the operation(P>0.05).The amount of bone reduction in horizontal alveolar ridge width showed no difference between the groups at 6 months and 1 year after surgery(P>0.05).Conclusion CGF membrane and Bio-Oss Collagen as barrier materials for posterior ARP inhibited reduction in alveolar ridge bone mass.