Objective:To evaluate the value of pretreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT-based heterogeneity for early prediction of targeted therapy outcome in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive metastatic breast cancer. Methods:From May 2012 to April 2018, 29 patients (all females, median age: 52 (32-69) years) who had HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer and underwent pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were retrospectively enrolled. All patients received trastuzumab as first-line treatment and were followed up for 6-87 (median time: 35) months. The relations between clinicopathologic parameters or PET/CT-based parameters and progression-free survival (PFS)/overall survival (OS) were analyzed with Cox univariate analysis. The parameters with P≤0.01 were further analyzed with Cox multivariate analysis. Optimal cut-off values were determined by time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The survival analyses were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Results:The median OS of the 29 patients was 30 (6-83) months, and the median PFS was 10 (2-29) months. The PET/CT-based heterogeneity index(HI), including the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) ratio (SUV max-R; hazard ratio ( HR)=8.6, 95% CI: 2.7-27.8, P<0.001), the mean standardized uptake value (SUV mean)-2.5 (the cut-off value of standardized uptake value (SUV)=2.5) ratio (SUV mean-2.5-R; HR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.2-5.9, P=0.020), the metabolic tumor volume(MTV)-2.5 ratio(MTV-2.5-R; HR=2.4, 95% CI: 1.1-5.2, P=0.030), and the total lesion glycolysis(TLG)-2.5 ratio(TLG-2.5-R; HR=3.2, 95% CI: 1.4-7.4, P=0.008) of the lesion with the highest SUV max to that with the lowest SUV max, were significantly associated with PFS. None of the parameters was significantly associated with OS (all P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the SUV max-R was the only independent predictor for PFS ( HR=6.8, 95% CI: 1.8-26.1, P<0.01). Area under the ROC curve for SUV max-R was 0.747. With a cut-off value of 1.8, SUV max-R could effectively distinguish the benefit from non-benefit population treated with trastuzumab (15.0 vs 7.0 months; χ2=18.68, P<0.01). Conclusion:Pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT-based HI has potential value for early prediction of first-line trastuzumab treatment outcome in patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer.

Objective To explore the diagnosis and treatment of bronchogenic cyst in the abdomen.Methods Clinical data of 7 cases with abdominal bronchogenic cyst in the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University from October 2001 to February 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Of the 7 patients,5 were male and 2 were female aging from 36 to 50 years with a median age of 37 years.Two cases were complaining for upper abdominal pain,5 cases were asymptomatic.Ultrasonography revealed hypoechoic or anechoic mass.Color doppler flow imaging showed no blood flow.Contrast-enhanced CT scans showed no obvious enhancement in 6 out of 7 cases,all patients underwent cystectomy successfully.Cysts were of unilocular in 6 cases and multilocular in one.Bronchogenic cysts were diagnosed by pathology in all 7 cases.Six patients were followed up from 1 month to 6 years with no recurrence.Conclusions Abdominal bronchogenic cyst is benign and postoperative prognosis is very good.

In this study, image quantitative analysis was made to investigate the effect of scald on arginine vasopressin (AVP) positive cells in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) stained with immunohistochemical method. Results showed that there was a decrease in the volume of AVP positive substance in the cells of SON following scald, which was significant immediately after scald (P

Objective: To understand the attitudes and perceptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners in Beijing TCM hospitals regarding the use of Ephedra sinica Stapf (E. sinica, Ma Huang). Methods: A two-stage cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire survey of TCM practitioners in Beijing TCM hospitals between April 2023 and March 2024. The questionnaire included demographic information, the clinical background of TCM practitioners, and the clinical application of E. sinica. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relevant influencing factors when using E. sinica. Results: Of the 465 questionnaires collected, 441 were valid. Among these, 84.81% (374/441) reported having used E. sinica in clinical practice at least once. The commonly used doses of E. sinica—excluding the pediatric department—were 10 g for high doses, 6 g for medium, and 3 g for low. The three most frequently used formulas for E. sinica included Maxing Shigan decoction, Mahuang decoction, and Xiao Qing Long decoction. The most common TCM patterns treated with a high dose of E. sinica were wind-cold exterior pattern, wind-cold invading the lung, and wind and water combat with meridians congealed by cold. The top three Western medical diagnoses when using E. sinica for treatment were common cold, pneumonia, and upper respiratory tract infections. Nearly half of the respondents reported experiencing adverse reactions from the oral administration of E. sinica, with the most common being palpitations, insomnia, and restlessness. Starting with a low dose and gradually increasing it as appropriate was identified as an effective approach. Conclusion This study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of TCM practitioners in Beijing TCM hospitals regarding the dose–efficacy–adverse reaction relationship of E. sinica, providing a reference for the safe and effective clinical use of E. sinica.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of CD4, CD69, CD34, RANTES, IL-5 and IL-8 in nasal polyp tissues, and study their roles in the formation of nasal polyp. METHOD: The expression of CD4, CD69, CD34, RANTES, IL-5 and IL-8 were detected by immunohistochemical method and image analysis in 34 cases of nasal polyps and 30 cases of nasal concha mucosa (LNT). RESULT: The positive rate of glandular organ hyperplasia, formation of beaker cell, fiber hyperplasia, interstitial edema and infiltration of lymphocyte and eosinophilic granulocyte in nasal polyps were significantly higher than those in nasal concha mucosa (P<0.01). The cell density (piece/mm2) of CD4+, CD69+, IL-5, IL-8, RANTES in 34 nasal polyps was significantly higher than those in nasal concha mucosa (P<0.05). Marked positive correlations were found between expression of CD4, CD69 and RANTES, IL-5 and IL-8 (P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.05), expression of IL-5 and RANTES and infiltration level of eosinophilic granulocyte (P<0.05 and P<0.01), and expression of IL-8 and vaso formation on nasal polyps tissue (P<0.01). CONCLUSION T lymphocytes and correlated cytokines participate in the immunopathogenesis of nasal polyps; IL-5 and RANTES can prompt the infiltration, the aggregation and the activation of eosinophilic granulocytes; IL-8 can promote the vaso formation in nasal polyps.
Chemokine CCL5 ; metabolism ; Female ; Granulocytes ; immunology ; Humans ; Interleukin-5 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Mucosa ; immunology ; metabolism ; Nasal Polyps ; immunology ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

This paper reports a rare clinical case of 46 X, i(X)(q10)TS in a female patient with horseshoe kidney and right duplication kidney with renal pelvic and ureteral junction stenosis and double kidney cysts, secondary to right renal calculi and hydronephrosis. After open surgical treatment, the curative effect was definite, which effectively relieved the stenosis at the junction of the renal pelvis and ureter and relieved the clinical symptoms of the patient. The patient was followed up for 3 months and recovered well. When TS is combined with horseshoe kidney with UPJO, open pyeloplasty with partial isthmus and renal fixation are still classic surgical procedures.

Objective To determine the chemical constituents in BSLYT by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(UHPLC-MS/MS),and to establish a high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprint of the material basis of BSLYT and the content determination of its six main constituents,mononoside,loganin,oroxin A,oroxin B,baicalein and astilbin,providing a reference for the quality control.Methods The mass spectrometry data were used to establish the fingerprints.The content of the main components in the BSLYT samples was calculated by using the external method,and the discrepency between different batches of samples were analyzed by combining with chemometric methods.Results A total of 69 compounds were identified by mass spectrometry,and 13 compounds were identified after comparison with high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).The similarity of the baseline characterization profiles of the 15 batches of BSLYT substances was above 0.90,and a total of 27 common peaks were identified.Cluster analysis(CA)classified the substance benchmarks into 2 classes,S1,S2,S5,S8,S9,S13,and S15 were clustered into one class,and S3,S4,S6,S7,S10-S12,and S16 were clustered into one class.By combining PCA and OPLS-DA,the chemical components affecting the baseline classification of the substances were screened and attributed to wood butterfly,cornelian cherry and cocos nigra,respectively.The contents of six components were determined by MICS,which ranged from 0.31%-0.51%,0.12%-0.22%,0.09%-0.19%,0.09%-0.24%,0.07%-0.18%,and 0.08%-0.29%for mononoside,loganin,oroxin A,oroxin B,baicalein and astilbin respectively.Conclusion The fingerprint and multi-indicator content determination method established in this paper are accurate and stable,which provide a basis for the quality control of the material benchmark of Kidney and Pharynx Formula and its related preparations.

Objective:To investigate clinical application of aconite root (Aconitum carmichaelii Debx.;hereinafter"aconite") by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physicians in TCM hospitals in Beijing and explore the specific use of aconite and the effect of different doses on decoction time.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study using two-stage sampling.Questionnaires were administered among TCM physicians from TCM hospitals in Beijing between September 2020 and August 2021.The questionnaire mainly included general demographics,clinical backgrounds of TCM physicians,and clinical application of aconite.The data analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0.Results:A total of 387 questionnaires were collected,of which 385 were valid.Of the 385 participating TCM physicians,331 (85.97％) used aconite in clinical practice.The top three medical diagnoses treated with aconite were heart failure,diarrhea without cause,and chronic gastritis.The TCM pattern treated most frequently with a high dose of aconite was spleen-kidney yang deficiency,and the TCM pattern treated most frequently with a low dose was spleen yang deficiency,while spleen-kidney yang deficiency was treated most frequently with a common dose of aconite.The top three common formulas were Sini decoction,Mahuang Xixin Fuzi decoction,and Zhenwu decoction.Hei Shun Pian was the most common herbal pieces of aconite.The highest frequency of the maximum dose of aconite was 15 g,that of the minimum dose was 3 g,and that of the common dose was 10 g.There was a certain correlation between decoction time and the dose of aconite.Most TCM physicians advised their patients to take medicine twice a day.Conclusion:In this study,we refined and quantified the use of aconite and enriched the exploration of the clinical application of aconite besides its provisions in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China.

Response assessment in breast cancer by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT can measure breast cancer cell glucose metabolic level. The evaluation criteria mainly include the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) criteria and PET response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (PERCIST). This review describes and compares the methods and clinical applications of EORTC criteria and PERCIST in response assessment among patients with locally advanced breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and recurrent and (or) metastatic breast cancer after systematic therapy.

ObjectiveTo investigate the possible mechanism of action and combination of medicinals of Zhuyu Pill （茱萸丸） in the treatment of atherosclerosis. MethodsThirteen normal C57BL/6J mice were used as blank group， and 40 ApoE^-/- mice of the same strain were randomly divided into model group， Huanglian （Coptis chinensis Franch.） group， Wuzhuyu （Tetradium ruticarpum） group， and Zhuyu Pill group， with 10 mice in each group. Except the blank group， the other groups were fed with high-fat diet for modeling， and the total modeling cycle was 12 weeks. After modelling， Huanglian group was given Huanglian solution 143.34 mg/（kg·d）， Wuzhuyu group with Wuzhuyu solution 301.78 mg/（kg·d）， Zhuyu Pill group with 261.07 mg/（kg·d） of Zhuyu Pill solution， blank group and model group were given 0.3ml of normal saline. Mice in all groups were gavaged for 12 weeks. The levels of total cholesterol （TC）， triglyceride （TG）， low density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C） and fasting blood glucose were measured by biochemical method； fasting insulin in serum was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） and insulin resistance index was calculated； HE staining was used to observe the pathological and morphological changes of aortic tissue， liver and epididymal fat in mice， and oil red O staining was used to observe the lipid deposition of aortic tissue in mice， and the percentage of positive area of aortic HE staining， the percentage of positive area of aortic oil red O staining， the non-alcoholic fatty liver activity score （NAS） score， and the cross-sectional area of epididymal fat were calculated； serum levels of interleukin 1β （IL-1β） and interleukin 18 （IL-18） were detected by ELISA； protein expression of nucleotide-binding oligomerisation structural domain-like receptor family pyridoxal structural domain protein 3 （NLRP3） in aortic tissues was detected by Western blot； and immunofluorescence was used to detect the levels of apoptosis-associated granulocyte-like protein （ASC）， which contains the CARD structural domain （ASC） and cysteine-containing aspartic protease 1 （Caspase-1） protein expression； and real-time fluorescence PCR was used to detect NLRP3， ASC， Caspase-1， IL-1β， and IL-18 mRNA expression in mouse aortic tissues. ResultsCompared with blank group， serum TC， TG and LDL-C were increased， insulin was decreased， fasting blood glucose and insulin resistance index were increased in model group （P＜0.01）. Aortic plaque area increased， liver lipid deposition increased， epididymal fat cells volume increased， liver NAS score increased， and epididymal fat cross-sectional area increased. Serum IL-1β and IL-18 increased， and the expression levels of NLRP3， ASC， Caspase-1 protein and mRNA in aortic tissue increased （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， serum TC， TG and LDL-C in Huanglian group， Wuzhuyu group and Zhuyu Pill group decreased， fasting insulin increased， fasting blood glucose and insulin resistance index decreased （P＜0.01）； aortic plaque area decreased significantly， liver lipid deposition decreased， liver NAS score decreased， epididymal fat cell volume decreased， epididymal fat cross section area decreased， serum IL-1β and IL-18 were decreased， the expression levels of NLRP3， ASC， Caspase-1 protein and mRNA in aortic tissue were decreased （P＜0.01）， and the improvement of all indexes in the Zhuyu Pill group was better than that in Huanglian and Wuzhuyu groups （P＜0.01）. ConclusionZhuyu Pill has a good therapeutic effect on atherosclerosis in mice， and the combination of Huanglian and Wuzhuyu has a synergistic effect， the mechanism of which may be related to regulation of the NLRP3/ASC/Caspase-1 aortic signaling pathway， and thus reducing the vascular inflammatory response.