Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Cyclophosphamide ; administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Panniculitis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative ; pathology ; Prednisone ; administration & dosage ; Vincristine ; administration & dosage

Aged ; Atropine ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Heart Rate ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Muscarinic Antagonists ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Preoperative Care ; methods ; Quinuclidines ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Humans ; Lipoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Thymus Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Air ; analysis ; Cyclohexanones ; analysis ; Electrophoresis, Capillary ; Reproducibility of Results ; Workplace

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway in erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by the absence of testosterone (T).

METHODSWe randomly divided 30 eight-week-old healthy male SD rats into groups A (control) , B (castration), and C (castration + androgen replacement). The rats in groups B and C were castrated surgically, and those in C injected with T undecanoate (100 mg/kg) at 1 week after castration, while the others with 0.9% normal saline instead. At 1 month after treatment, we determined the serum T level, intracavernous pressure (ICP), and mean carotid arterial pressure (MAP) of the rats, and detected the expressions of ERK1/2 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by Western blot.

RESULTSThe serum T level was significantly lower in group B ([1.27 ± 0.48] nmol/L) than in A ([17.14 ± 1.07] nmol/L) and C ([16.24 ± 1.90] nmol/L) (P < 0.05), and so were ICP and MAP (P < 0.05). The expression of ERK1/2 showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups (P > 0.05), that of phosphatase ERK1/2 was markedly higher while that of eNOS remarkably lower in group B than in A and C (both P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAndrogen replacement may improve the erectile function of castrated rats by regulating the ERK1/2 pathway.

Androgens ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Male ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; metabolism ; Orchiectomy ; Penile Erection ; Penis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use

KRAS is one of the most frequently mutated human oncogenes. In spite of mounting efforts on the development of direct or indirect inhibition targeting KRAS, little has been achieved because of insurmountable difficulties, titling KRAS "undruggable". Recently, subtype-specific inhibitors have shown great hope. Some KRAS^G12C inhibitors have entered clinical trials, including adagrasib and sotorasib, and have shown preliminary clinical effectiveness. Experiences from the inhibitors targeting the downstream factors of RAS pathways show that the anticancer activity of these drugs will be limited due to the development of drug resistance. Preclinical studies of KRAS^G12C inhibitors have revealed that the application of these agents might be hampered by the drug resistance issue. The current review aims to describe the current status of KRAS^G12C inhibitors, and discuss the mechanisms underlying KRAS^G12C inhibitor resistance, so as to provide the clues for the combat of drug resistance.

Three sesquiterpenoids and nine iridoids were isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Valeriana jatamansi by various chromatographic methods. Their structures were identified by physicochemical properties, NMR and MS data. Among them, valeriananoid G (1) was a new patchoulol-type sesquiterpenoid, and compound 3 was isolated from the genus Valeriana for the first time. Compounds 3 and 10 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production induced by lipopolysaccharide in RAW 264.7 macrophages, with IC₅₀ values of 19.00 and 3.66 μmol·L^-1, respectively. In addition, compounds 4, 6 and 12 showed anti-influenza virus activity with IC₅₀ values of 51.75, 51.40 and 102.08 μmol·L^-1, respectively.

OBJECTIVETo study the pathologic characteristics of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, especially the pattern of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis; and to compare the histologic features with those of idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis.

METHODSThe HE-stained paraffin sections of 10 cases of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis encountered during the period from 2000 to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSThere were altogether 6 males and 4 females, with age of patients ranging from 23 to 59 years (mean=47.2 years). Clinically, the patients presented with chronic cough and shortness of breath for 4 months to 6 years. Histologically, 7 cases showed usual interstitial pneumonitis (UIP)-like fibrosis. Patchy fibrosis was observed under the pleura, adjacent to interlobular septa and around bronchioles. In all of the 7 cases, foci of fibroblastic proliferation, as well as bronchiolar metaplasia of peribronchiolar alveoli and mild bronchiolitis, were noted. Three cases presented with mild honeycomb changes of lung and 3 cases showed non-specific interstitial pneumonitis (NSIP)-like fibrosis, in which the alveolar septa were expanded by fibrous tissue and collagen, with relative preservation of alveolar architecture. Bronchiolitis and lymphocytic infiltrates in alveolar septa were seen. Schaumann bodies were identified in 1 case. In general, patients with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis were younger than patients with idiopathic UIP. Computed tomography often showed upper and middle lobar involvement and mosaic attenuation. Compared with idiopathic UIP, the UIP-like fibrosis of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis often occurred not only under the pleura and adjacent to interlobular septa, but also around bronchioles and was accompanied by bronchiolar metaplasia.

CONCLUSIONSChronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis can mimic other types of lung conditions with interstitial fibrosis, especially UIP and NSIP. As a result, some cases of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis may be misdiagnosed as such.

Adult ; Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; complications ; pathology ; Chronic Disease ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Humans ; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis ; etiology ; pathology ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Alveoli ; pathology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To assess the image quality and effective radiation dose of prospectively electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated high-pitch spiral acquisition mode (flash mode) of dual-source CT (DSCT) coronary angiography (CTCA) in patients with high heart rates (HRs) as compared with retrospectively ECG-gated spiral acquisition mode. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and sixty-eight consecutive patients (132 female, mean age: 55 +/- 11 years) with mean HR > 65 beats per minute (bpm) were prospectively included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups. Collection was performed in group A CTCA using flash mode setting at 20-30% of the R-R interval, and retrospectively ECG-gated spiral acquisition mode in group B. The image noise, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), image quality scores, effective radiation dose and influencing factors on image quality between the two groups were assessed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in image quality scores and proportions of non-diagnostic coronary artery segments between two groups (image quality scores: 1.064 +/- 0.306 [group A] vs. 1.084 +/- 0.327 [group B], p = 0.063; proportion of non-diagnostic coronary artery segments: segment-based analysis 1.52% (group A) vs. 1.74% (group B), p = 0.345; patient-based analysis 7.5% (group A) vs. 6.7% (group B), p = 0.812). The estimated radiation dose was 1.0 +/- 0.16 mSv in group A and 7.1 +/- 1.05 mSv in group B (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, in patients with HRs > 65 bpm without cardiac arrhythmia, the prospectively high-pitch spiral-acquisition mode with image-acquired timing set at 20-30% of the R-R interval provides a similar image quality and low rate of non-diagnostic coronary segments to the retrospectively ECG-gated low-pitch spiral acquisition mode, with significant reduction of radiation exposure.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/*diagnosis ; Artifacts ; *Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques ; *Coronary Angiography ; *Electrocardiography ; Female ; *Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Tomography, Spiral Computed

Objective:To observe the effect of tuina exercise on simple obesity in college students.Methods:Fifty-seven college students with simple obesity were divided into two groups according to the stratified randomization method.Twenty-eight in the tuina exercise group were trained in tuina exercise;while 29 in the auricular acupoint sticking group were treated with acuricular acupoint sticking.The tuina exercise group was trained once every other day,and 10 times made one course.The auricular acupoint sticking was replaced once every 4 d,and 5 times made one course.After 2-course treatment,the total therapeutic effect,weight,body mass index (BMI),waist and hip circumferences,serum total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed.Results:The total therapeutic effect was 86.2％ in the auricular acupoint sticking group and 85.7％ in the tuina exercise group.There was no significant difference between the two groups (P＞0.05).After treatment,the weight,BMI,waist and hip circumferences were decreased and the differences were statistically significant (all P＜0.05).The waist and hip circumferences in the tuina exercise group were lower than those in the auricular acupoint sticking group,showing statistically significant differences (all P＜0.05).After treatment,there were no significant intra-group differences in TC,TG,HDL-C and LDL-C in the two groups (all P＞0.05),and the between-group differences were not significant (all P＞0.05).Conclusion:Tuina exercise has reliable effect in treating obesity.It can produce more significant improvements in waist and hip circumferences than auricular acupoint sticking.But no obvious effect is shown in blood lipid indicators.