The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays a crucial role in regulating many physiological processes. Activating the AhR-CYP1A1 axis has emerged as a novel therapeutic strategy against various inflammatory diseases. Here, a practical in situ cell-based fluorometric assay was constructed to screen AhR-CYP1A1 axis modulators, via functional sensing of CYP1A1 activities in live cells. Firstly, a cell-permeable, isoform-specific enzyme-activable fluorogenic substrate for CYP1A1 was rationally constructed for in-situ visualizing the dynamic changes of CYP1A1 function in living systems, which was subsequently used for discovering the efficacious modulators of the AhR-CYP1A1 axis. Following screening of a compound library, LAC-7 was identified as an efficacious activator of the AhR-CYP1A1 axis, which dose-dependently up-regulated the expression levels of both CYP1A1 and AhR in multiple cell lines. LAC-7 also suppressed macrophage M1 polarization and reduced the levels of inflammatory factors in LPS-induced bone marrow-derived macrophages. Animal tests showed that LAC-7 could significantly mitigate DSS-induced ulcerative colitis and LPS-induced acute lung injury in mice, and markedly reduced the levels of multiple inflammatory factors. Collectively, an optimized fluorometric cell-based assay was devised for in situ functional imaging of CYP1A1 activities in living systems, which strongly facilitated the discovery of efficacious modulators of the AhR-CYP1A1 axis as novel anti-inflammatory agents.

Notum, a negative feedback regulator of the Wnt signaling, has emerged as a promising target for treating glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). This study showcases an efficient strategy for discovering the anti-Notum constituents from herbal medicines (HMs) as novel anti-GIOP agents. Firstly, a rapid-responding near-infrared fluorogenic substrate for Notum was rationally engineered for high-throughput identifying the anti-Notum HMs. The results showed that Bu-Gu-Zhi (BGZ), a known anti-osteoporosis herb, potently inhibited Notum in a competitive-inhibition manner. To uncover the key anti-Notum constituents in BGZ, an efficient strategy was adapted via integrating biochemical, phytochemical, computational, and pharmacological assays. Among all identified BGZ constituents, three furanocoumarins were validated as strong Notum inhibitors, while 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MP) showed the most potent anti-Notum activity and favorable safety profiles. Mechanistically, 5-MP acted as a competitive inhibitor of Notum via creating strong hydrophobic interactions with Trp128 and Phe268 in the catalytic cavity of Notum. Cellular assays showed that 5-MP remarkably promoted osteoblast differentiation and activated Wnt signaling in dexamethasone (DXMS)-challenged MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. In dexamethasone-induced osteoporotic mice, 5-MP strongly elevated bone mineral density (BMD) and improved cancellous and cortical bone thickness. Collectively, this study constructs a high-efficient platform for discovering key anti-Notum constituents from HMs, while 5-MP emerges as a promising anti-GIOP agent.

With the development of the Scientific, Transparent and Applicable Rankings tool for clinical practice guidelines(STAR), the publication of evaluation and ranking for scientificity, transparency and applicability of Chinese guidelines and consensus published in the medical journals in 2021and 2022, as well as the publication of the STAR evaluation and ranking for some specialities, the STAR evaluation and ranking has received widespread attention in the medical community. In order to further enhance its scientificity and transparency, Methodology and Technology Specialization Committee of the STAR Working Group presents this article to introduce sample identification and speciality assignment in the evaluation and ranking process.

Objective:To analyze the sensitivity of cytoplasmic light-chain immunofluorescence with fluorescence in situ hybridization in bone marrow smears (new FISH) for detecting cytogenetic abnormalities in multiple myeloma (MM) .Methods:42 MM patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from April 2022 to October 2023 were enrolled. The patients with MM were detected by new FISH and CD138 immunomagnetic bead sorting technology combined with FISH (MACS-FISH) or cytoplasmic immunoglobulin FISH (cIg-FISH) to analyze cytogenetic detection results using combination probes which included 1q21/1p32, p53, IgH, IgH/FGFR3 [t (4;14) ], and IgH/MAF [t (14;16) ].Results:In 23 patients with MM, the abnormality detection rates of cIg-FISH and new FISH were 95.7% and 100.0%, respectively ( P>0.05). The detection rates of 1q21+, 1p32-, p53 deletion, and IgH abnormalities by cIg-FISH and new FISH were consistent, which were 52.2%, 8.7%, 17.4%, and 65.2%, respectively. The results of the two methods further performed with t (4;14) and t (14;16) in patients with IgH abnormalities were identical. The positive rate of t (4;14) was 26.7%, whereas t (14;16) was not detected. In 19 patients with MM, the abnormality detection rates of MACS-FISH and new FISH were 73.7% and 63.2%, respectively ( P>0.05). The positivity rate of 1q21+, 1p32- and IgH abnormalities detected by MACS-FISH were slightly higher than those detected by new FISH; however, the differences were not statistically significant (all P values >0.05) . Conclusion:The new FISH method has a higher detection rate of cytogenetic abnormalities in patients with MM and has good consistency with MACS-FISH and cIg-FISH.

Objective:To analyze the distribution of different SF3B1 genotypes in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and its prognostic value.Methods:Totally, 377MDS patients who were initially diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2014 to January 2022 were included in the retrospective analysis.The patients were divided into three different groups according to mutation stcote of SF3B1, including 317 patients with SF3B1 wild type (SF3B1 WT) (214 males and 103 females, 63(49, 71) years old),39 patients with SF3B1 K700E mutation(SF3B1 K700E(17 males and 22 females, 65(52, 73)years old)) and 21 patients with SF3B1 non-K700E mutation(SF3B1 non-K700E)(13 males and 8 females, 67(63, 73) years old). MDS-related 20 gene mutations were detected using targeted sequencing technology; Survival curves were constructed by the Kaplan-Meier method; Cox proportional hazards model was established to evaluate different factors at diagnosis on survival by univariate and multivariate analyses.. Results:Compared with SF3B1 non-K700E patients, SF3B1 K700E patients had a higher median absolute neutrophil count ( P=0.002) and were likely to be in the low/int-1 International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) categories ( P=0.023). A 20-gene targeted sequencing analysis showed that, compared with SF3B1 WT patients, SF3B1 K700E patients were associated with lower frequency of ASXL1 and U2AF1 mutations ( P=0.018 and P=0.003); while compared with SF3B1 non-K700E patients, the frequency of ASXL1 mutation was significantly lower in SF3B1 K700E cases ( P=0.029). Patients with SF3B1 K700E had better overall survival (OS) in comparison with SF3B1 WT and SF3B1 non-K700E in MDS patients ( P<0.001 and P=0.045, respectively). In comparison with SF3B1 WT patients, SF3B1 MUT patients had more favorable OS and progression-free survival (PFS) in MDS without excess blasts ( P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively), but no significant difference was found in MDS with excess blasts ( P>0.05). Compared with SF3B1 WT patients, SF3B1 K700E patients had superior OS and PFS in the int-1 IPSS category ( P=0.010 and P=0.013, respectively). By multivariable analysis, the presence of SF3B1 K700Ewas an independent predictor of superior OS ( HR=0.461,95% CI 0.262-0.811, P=0.007). Conclusion:SF3B1 K700E and SF3B1 non-K700E patients had significantly improved OS in comparison with SF3B1 WT MDS patients. Furthermore, SF3B1 K700E patients were associated with a better OS compared with SF3B1 non-K700E MDS patients. SF3B1 mutation could not overcome the poor prognostic effect of excess blasts, which highlights the importance of the SF3B1 mutation subtype in risk assessment of MDS without excess blasts.

Objective:The clinical characteristics and prognosis of 20 patients with small B-lymphocyte proliferative disease with t (14;19) (q32; q13) were analyzed to improve the understanding of such rare cases.Methods:The clinical data of 20 patients with t (14; 19) (q32; q13) small B lymphocyte proliferative disease treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from April 2013 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Among them, 10 cases were chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and 10 cases were other small B-cell malignancies.Results:Among the 20 cases, 10 were male and 10 were female, and the median age at diagnosis was 53.5 (35-88) years old. All patients had absolute lymphocytosis, 19 patients had lymphadenopathy, and 10 patients had splenomegaly. With a median follow-up of 36 (4-163) months, three patients died, and 11 patients had a time to treatment (TTT) ≤12 months. Ten patients (50%) were accompanied by +12, two patients (2/17, 12%) were accompanied by 13q-. Moreover, we found that t (14;19) was associated with unmutated immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable (IGHV) somatic mutation (17/19, 89%) and a biased use of IGHV4-39 (7/17, 41%) was observed. Next-generation sequencing detected one or more gene mutations in 14 (14/17, 82%) cases and a total of 25 gene mutations had been revealed, of which the most frequent were NOTCH1 (35%) , followed by SF3B1 (24%) and KMT2D (18%) . For 10 CLL patients, five (50%) were defined as Rai Ⅲ/Binet C. It is noteworthy that among the 20 cases, two cases actually involved Richter transformation.Conclusions:Small B-cell malignant tumors with abnormal t (14; 19) show unique clinical biological characteristics, often accompanied by a variety of adverse prognostic factors, and tend to have an aggressive clinical course.

OBJECTIVE: To detect chromosomal aberrations by using cytoplasmic light chain immunofluorescence with fluorescence in situ hybridization (cIg-FISH), and to explore the correlation of del(17p13) with clinical characteristics, drug response and prognosis among patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). METHODS: Clinical data of 198 cases of NDMM was collected. cIg-FISH and a specific probe (TP53) were used to detect karyotypic abnormalities in bone marrow samples derived from the patients. Correlation between karyotypic abnormalities and clinical data was analyzed. RESULTS: Nineteen of the 198 patients (9.6%) were found to have a karyotype involving del(17p13). The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with or without del(17p13) was significantly different (P<0.01). No significant difference was found in OS and PFS between patients carrying a del(17p13) on bortezomib and non-bortezomib regimen (OS: P = 0.873; PFS: P = 0.610). CONCLUSION cIg-FISH is a simple and convenient method for the detection of karyotypic anomalies in multiple myeloma. Del(17p13) is an indicator for poor prognosis for multiple myeloma patients. Bortezomib cannot improve the survival disadvantage of del(17p13).

Objective To investigatethe significance of serum carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125,car cinoembryonic antigen (CEA),cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1),neuron-specific enolase (NSE),and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in the diagnosis of bone metastasis from lung cancer.Methods A total of 222 patients,including 91 lung cancer patients with bone metastasis (49 males,42 females,average age (60.07± 10.60) years;group A),75 lung cancerpatientswithout bone metastasis (57 males,18 females,average age (62.20± 12.63) years;group B),56 patients with benign lung diseases (34 males,22 females,average age (61.45± 10.66) years;group C) were recruited from January 2015 to January 2016.The electrochemiluminescence was applied to detect serum levels of CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE and SCCA.Kruskal-Wallis,Wilcoxon rank sum test,x2 test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to analyze data.Results The levels of serum CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE in group A were higher than those in group B and C (H values:13.45-44.96,all P＜0.05);while SCCA was not significantly different among the 3 groups (H=2.56,P＞0.05).The areas under ROC curves for CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE,SCCA were 0.667,0.702,0.602,0.664,0.440,respectively.The positive rate of serum NSE in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients was higher than that in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (17/18 vs 32.88％ (24/73);x2=22.11,P＜0.05);CEA was highly expressed in adenocarcinoma,and SCCA was highly expressed in squamous cell carcinoma.Patients with grade Ⅲ+ Ⅳ metas tasis (n =52) had higher levels of CA 125,CEA,NSE compared to patients with Ⅰ + Ⅱ metastasis (n =39;z values:from-2.54 to-0.32,all P＜0.05).The sensitivity of combined detection of 5 tumor markers was 97.80％ (89/91),which was significantly higher than that of single tumor marker (x2 values:35.46-138.23,all P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum levels of CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE and SCCA play a role in the diagnosis of bone metastasis from lung cancer,and the combined detection of the 5 tumor markers contribute to the early detection of bone metastases.

Objective Using Z-score to assess the prevalence of proximal aorta dilatation in middle-aged and aged individuals during routine transthoracic echocardiogram examinations and to identify its risk factors. Methods A total of 823 middle-aged or elderly patients on routine transthoracic echocardiogram examinations were consecutively enrolled. The internal diameters of the sinus of Valsalva (SoV ) and the ascending aorta (AA ) were measured. Z-scores were calculated according to the proposed equation for SoV and AA. A dilated aortic root was defined as a Z-score ≥1.96 or the diameter of SoV or AA ≥ 40 mm. The prevalence of proximal aorta dilatation and associated factors were analyzed. Results The prevalences of proximal aorta dilatation ,SoV dilatation ,and AA dilatation were 26.1%(25/823 ) ,6.0%(49/823 ) ,and 23.7%(195/823 ) , respectively.In the aortic root dilatation group ,age and the proportion of obesity were higher (both P＜0.05) ,and there were more female subjects (30.5% or 117/384 vs.22.3% or 98/439 ,P＜0.01) . The incidences of left atrial dilation ,left ventricular dilation ,left ventricular hypertrophy ,and aortic regurgitation in the aortic root dilatation group were higher than those in the non-aortic root dilatation group(P＜0.05 ) .Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that sex (OR＝ 1.827 ,95% CI :1.248-2.673 ,P＝0.002) ,hypertension (OR＝1.441 ,95% CI :1.000-2.075 ,P＝0.050)and left ventricular hypertrophy (OR＝1.827 ,95% CI :1.248-2.673 ,P＝0.002)were independently correlated with aortic root dilatation. Conclusions The prevalence of proximal aorta dilatation is high in middle-aged and aged individuals. Proximal aorta dilatation is related to sex ,age ,and body size ,and it is often accompanied by structural abnormalities of the heart.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for acute ischemic stroke in patients with lower extremity atherosclerosis (LEA).Methods The consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to hospital within 7 d after onset were enrolled retrospectively.Color Doppler flow imaging was used to detect LEA.The demographic characteristics,vascular risk factors,and laboratory parameters were identified and analyzed.Results A total of 156 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled,including 138 with LEA.Univariate analysis showed that age (69.5± 11.8 years vs.60.4± 11.5 years;t =3.063,P =0.003) and the proportion of patients with hypertension (81.1％ vs,55.6％;x2 =2.467,P =0.014) in the LEA group were significantly higher than those in the non-LEA group.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for confounders such as gender,baseline systolic blood pressure,diabetes mellitus,and ischemic heart disease,age (odds ratio [OR] 1.059,95％ confidence interval [CI] 1.016-1.105;P=0.007),and hypertension (OR 3.128,95％ CI 1.084-9.026,P =0.035) were the independent risk factors for acute ischemic stroke complicated with LEA.Conclusions Age and hypertension are associated with acute ischemic stroke complicated with LEA.