Objective We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Shengxuebao Mixture in the treatment of cancer-related anemia(CRA)presenting with syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood.Methods A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical trial was conducted.Eligible patients with malignant tumors meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled from 26 hospitals,including Dongzhimen Hospital,Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Xiaogan Central Hospital,and Yangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,from June 1,2022,to September 30,2024.Patients were allocated 1:1 to either the experimental group receiving Shengxuebao Mixture or the control group receiving its simulator(placebo)using a block randomization method under double-blind conditions.Both groups received 15 mL orally three times daily for 28 consecutive days.The primary efficacy indicators included the hemoglobin(Hb)improvement rate(RHb)and the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome improvement rate(RTCM)at week 4 of treatment.The secondary efficacy indicators encompassed Hb and red blood cell(RBC)count,Karnofsky Performance Status(KPS)score,TCM syndrome score,individual TCM symptom scores,and changes in each of these indicators compared to the baseline period at weeks 2,4,and 6 of treatment.Safety evaluations were conducted at week 4 of treatment.Results A total of 239 patients were enrolled,with 225 cases included in the Full Analysis Set(FAS)(109 in the experimental group vs.116 control group),163 in the Per Protocol Set(PPS)(77 vs.86),and 225 in the Safety Set(SS)(109 vs.116).Baseline characteristics between groups showed no significant differences.Significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in RHb at week 4(FAS:49.51%vs.35.24%,P<0.05;PPS:53.25%vs.36.05%,P<0.05)and RTCM at week 4(FAS:61.54%vs.39.62%,P<0.01;PPS:64.94%vs.40.70%,P<0.01).At weeks 2,4,and 6,the experimental group showed greater improvements in Hb and RBC counts than the control group.Additionally,the TCM syndrome scores were lower in the experimental group than in the control group at these time points.Except for week 2 in PPS,the KPS improvement was better in the experimental group than in the control group(P<0.05).The experimental group also demonstrated a greater reduction in scores for individual TCM symptoms such as spiritlessness and weakness,poor appetite and reduced food intake at weeks 4 and 6 compared to the control group(P<0.05,P<0.01).Furthermore,the reduction in vertigo score was more pronounced in the experimental group at week 6(P<0.01).For the score of pale and lusterless complexion,only in the PPS was the reduction from baseline more significant in the experimental group than in the control group at weeks 4 and 6(P<0.05).No significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in the incidence of all adverse events or drug-related adverse reactions.Conclusion Shengxuebao Mixture demonstrates significant efficacy in patients with CRA presenting syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood,effectively increasing Hb levels,ameliorating TCM syndromes,alleviating clinical symptoms,and enhancing functional status,with no significant difference in adverse drug reactions compared to the placebo.

Objective We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Shengxuebao Mixture in the treatment of cancer-related anemia(CRA)presenting with syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood.Methods A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical trial was conducted.Eligible patients with malignant tumors meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled from 26 hospitals,including Dongzhimen Hospital,Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Xiaogan Central Hospital,and Yangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,from June 1,2022,to September 30,2024.Patients were allocated 1:1 to either the experimental group receiving Shengxuebao Mixture or the control group receiving its simulator(placebo)using a block randomization method under double-blind conditions.Both groups received 15 mL orally three times daily for 28 consecutive days.The primary efficacy indicators included the hemoglobin(Hb)improvement rate(RHb)and the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome improvement rate(RTCM)at week 4 of treatment.The secondary efficacy indicators encompassed Hb and red blood cell(RBC)count,Karnofsky Performance Status(KPS)score,TCM syndrome score,individual TCM symptom scores,and changes in each of these indicators compared to the baseline period at weeks 2,4,and 6 of treatment.Safety evaluations were conducted at week 4 of treatment.Results A total of 239 patients were enrolled,with 225 cases included in the Full Analysis Set(FAS)(109 in the experimental group vs.116 control group),163 in the Per Protocol Set(PPS)(77 vs.86),and 225 in the Safety Set(SS)(109 vs.116).Baseline characteristics between groups showed no significant differences.Significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in RHb at week 4(FAS:49.51%vs.35.24%,P<0.05;PPS:53.25%vs.36.05%,P<0.05)and RTCM at week 4(FAS:61.54%vs.39.62%,P<0.01;PPS:64.94%vs.40.70%,P<0.01).At weeks 2,4,and 6,the experimental group showed greater improvements in Hb and RBC counts than the control group.Additionally,the TCM syndrome scores were lower in the experimental group than in the control group at these time points.Except for week 2 in PPS,the KPS improvement was better in the experimental group than in the control group(P<0.05).The experimental group also demonstrated a greater reduction in scores for individual TCM symptoms such as spiritlessness and weakness,poor appetite and reduced food intake at weeks 4 and 6 compared to the control group(P<0.05,P<0.01).Furthermore,the reduction in vertigo score was more pronounced in the experimental group at week 6(P<0.01).For the score of pale and lusterless complexion,only in the PPS was the reduction from baseline more significant in the experimental group than in the control group at weeks 4 and 6(P<0.05).No significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in the incidence of all adverse events or drug-related adverse reactions.Conclusion Shengxuebao Mixture demonstrates significant efficacy in patients with CRA presenting syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood,effectively increasing Hb levels,ameliorating TCM syndromes,alleviating clinical symptoms,and enhancing functional status,with no significant difference in adverse drug reactions compared to the placebo.

OBJECTIVES: To construct a nomogram for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) by integrating chest CT radiomics signature that reflects the tumor microenvironment (TME) and clinical parameters of the patients. METHODS: Transcriptomic and CT imaging data from TCGA, GEO and TCIA databases were integrated for weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of the GEO cohort to identify the immunotherapy-related genes (IRGs) associated with ICIs response. A prognostic model was built using these IRGs in the TCGA cohort to assess immune microenvironment features across different risk groups. Radiomics features were extracted from TCIA lung_3 cohort using PyRadiomics, and 94 features showing strong association with IRGs (|r|>0.4) were selected. A retrospective cohort consisting of 210 aNSCLC patients receiving first-line ICIs at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital was analyzed and divided into training (n=147) and validation (n=63) groups. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used for radiomic features selection, and logistic regression was applied to construct a combined clinical-radiomic model and nomogram for predicting ICIs therapy response. The performance of the model was evaluated using ROC curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: WGCNA identified 84 IRGs enriched in immune activation pathways. The combined model outperformed individual models in both the training (AUC=0.725, 95% CI: 0.644-0.807) and validation cohorts (AUC=0.706, 95% CI: 0.577-0.836). Calibration curve and decision curve analyses confirmed the clinical efficacy of the nomogram for predicting ICIs therapy response in aNSCLC patients. CONCLUSIONS The genomic-radiomic-clinical multidimensional predictive framework established in this study provides an interpretable biomarker combination and clinical decision-making tool for evaluating ICIs efficacy in aNSCLC, potentially facilitating personalized immunotherapy decision-making.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/therapy* ; Tumor Microenvironment ; Lung Neoplasms/therapy* ; Immunotherapy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Nomograms ; Retrospective Studies ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Prognosis ; Male ; Female ; Radiomics

;Objective To establish an integrated feeder-free platform for in vitro expansion and gene editing to tack-le the major challenges in clinical applications of cryopreserved primary human natural killer(NK)cells in terms of low expansion efficiency,technical difficulty in genetic modification and safety concerns.Methods A non-viral CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein(RNP)-based multiplex gene editing system was developed through systematic op-timization of culture medium and nucleofection conditions.Cell phenotype(CD56+CD3-),viability,editing effi-ciency,and tumor-killing activity were evaluated via flow cytometry and cytotoxicity assays.Results The number of NK cells achieved 5 000-fold expansion over 25 days while maintaining high purity(CD56+CD3-＞95％)and viability(＞90％).Post-thawing viability(＞80％)and tumor-killing capacity were preserved.Cas9 RNP delivery enabled efficient dual knockout of NKG2A and CISH immune checkpoint genes(＞80％),significantly enhanced cytotoxicity against K562 tumor cells(P＜0.05).Conclusions Compared to viral vectors,the non-viral strategy eliminates genomic integration risks and reduces off-target effects.This result may provide a safe and efficient tech-nical platform for clinical application of NK cell immunotherapy and potentially encourage application of multiplex gene editing in cancer therapy.

ObjectiveTo develop and validate a predictive model to individually predict the risk of patients with stroke in the eICU Collaborative Research Database for early clinical identification and intervention. MethodIndividual patient data （200 859 cases） from a national multicenter cohort study （eICU database） were selected， and the patients with stroke in neurological diseases （9 037 cases） were selected for statistical analysis. The main outcome was hospital mortality. The Glasgow Coma scale （GCS） was used to divide all patients with stroke into stroke in meridian and stroke in viscera （GCS≤14 for stroke in viscera and GCS=15 for stroke in meridian）. The patients were then divided into a training set and a test set according to 7∶3， respectively， to evaluate the differences in hospital mortality between the two groups. The multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the related factors affecting the prognosis of the two groups， and a predictive model was established. Receiver operator characteristic （ROC） curves were used to assess the discrimination of the predictive model. ResultThe predictive model based on 9 037 patients with stroke was established. The predictors of the stroke in meridian （4 475 cases） included pulmonary infection， mechanical ventilation， acute physiology， and chronic health status scoring system Ⅳ （APACHE Ⅳ） score. The predictors of the stroke in viscera （4 562 cases） included anticoagulation therapy （AT）， mechanical ventilation， acute physiology， and APACHE Ⅳ score. According to the predictors， the predictive models of the stroke in meridian and the stroke in viscera were constructed， respectively. The areas under the curve （AUC） of ROC of the training set and the test set of the predictive models of the stroke in meridian were 0.845 ［95% confidence interval （CI） （0.811， 0.879）］ and 0.807 ［95% CI （0.751， 0.863）］， respectively. The areas under the ROC curve of the training set and test set of the predictive models of the stroke in viscera were 0.799 ［95% CI （0.781， 0.817）］ and 0.805 ［95% CI （0.778， 0.832）］， respectively. The AUC of the predictive model of the training set and the test set were both above 0.7. ConclusionThe model established in this study can conveniently， directly， and accurately predict the hospital mortality risk of patients with stroke. Physicians and other healthcare professionals can use this predictive approach to provide early care planning and clinical interventions for patients with stroke during their hospital stay.

Objective: To investigate the history, risk factors for prognosis of malignant biliary stricture (MBS) patients receiving conservative therapy after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) and to set up a predictive model for overall survival (OS). Methods: MBS patients who underwent ERCP and conservative therapy in Xijing Hospital and PLA No.451 Hospital from January 2009 to December 2013 were enrolled to the present study. Predictive factors associated with OS were identified in the training cohort by stepwise multivariate Cox regression analysis. A predictive model was then developed and externally validated in the validation cohort. Results: Between January 2009 and December 2013, 152 and 149 patients were eligible to the training and validation cohort respectively. In the training cohort, tumors were mainly originated from bile duct (33.6%), pancreas (23.5%) or ampulla (20.4%). 76.3% (116/152) patients died during the observation period. The median OS for the training population was 5.0 months (3.9-6.2 months). CA19-9≥1 000 U/mL, non-ampulla tumor, metastasis, pre-ERCP total bilirubin≥7 mg/dL and hilar stricture were identified as independent predictive factors of poor OS (all P<0.05). Based on these factors, the COMTH predictive model was developed. The median OS of patients with COMTH>8 in the training and validation cohorts were both 3.0 months, which were significantly shorter than those with COMTH≤8 (10.0 and 6.9 months in the training and validation cohorts respectively, both P<0.001). Conclusion The prognosis of MBS patients undergoing ERCP is poor. The survival chance of patients with COMTH>8 is even more dismal.

Objective To investigate the relationship of vitamin D with the intestinal development and study the expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the duodenum of C57BL/6 mice at different developmental stages.Methods Quantitative PCR (qPCR),histology using H&E staining and immunofluorescence staining,and Western blotting (WB) were performed to elucidate the expression of VDR in mice intestine at different growth and developmental stages.Results The peak of VDR mRNA expression reached on 21 d.The pathological result showed that VDR mainly distributed in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells and smooth muscle cells in the mouse duodenum.WB result indicated that there was no nuclear translocation of VDR protein in the mouse duodenum.Conclusions This study demonstrates the regularity of expression of VDR in the mouse duodenum during its development,and contributes to understanding the function of VDR in the intestines.

Objective To establish an efficient baculovirus-insect cell expression system for the production of human immunodeficiency virus-1 ( HIV-1 ) envelope glycoprotein gp120 and to evaluate the physiochemical properties, antigenicity and immunogenicity of the recombinant protein. Methods The gene encoding HIV-1 NL4-3 gp120 was cloned into the downstream of pH promoter of the baculovirus transfer vec-tor pAcgp67B to construct the recombinant transfer vector pAc-gp120. Expression of the protein of interest was induced in baculovirus-infected High FiveTM insect cells. ELISA, analytical ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography were carried out to characterize physicochemical properties of the expressed gp120 protein. Immunogenicity of the recombinant gp120 protein was analyzed by HIV neutralization assay after im-munizing BALB/c mice with it. Results The recombinant HIV-1 gp120 protein was successfully obtained from the established insect cell expression system with a purity of more than 90％ and a mean yield of 13 mg/L in four batches. That recombinant HIV-1 gp120 protein was characterized by homogeneity in solution and possessed a good immunoreactivity to neutralizing antibodies and antisera against HIV. Immunogenicity analysis in BALB/c mice demonstrated that the recombinant gp120 protein could induce effective immune re-sponses against HIV-1 NL4-3. Conclusion A simple and scalable approach to obtain homogeneous and im-munogenic HIV-1 gp120 antigen is successfully established, which will promote further investigation of HIV vaccine candidates.

Objective To compare the differences between endoscopic resection and laparoscopy?assisted surgery or transanal endoscopic resection for rectal neuroendocrinal tumor. Methods Clinical data of patients who underwent endoscopic or surgical resection of neuroendocrinal tumor of less than 2 cm which were confirmed by pathology from December 2010 to November 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Twenty cases of endoscopic treatment, including 17 cases of ESD, 3 cases of EMR,were included in endoscopy group;while 18 cases treated with surgery were included in surgery group, among which 12 ca?ses underwent transanal endoscopic microsurgery and 6 cases laparoscopic resection. The mean lesion sizes were 7 mm(4?18 mm)and 8 mm(3?15 mm),respectively. Pathology showed there were 16 cases of grade G1 neurocrinal tumor and 2 G2 cases in surgical group. There was no lymphvascular invasion with clear margin in the endoscopy group,but three cases of lymphvascular invasion in surgical group. No treatment?related se?vere adverse event occurred in either group. The time for oral food intake was 2?0 d(1?4 d) in endoscopy group, while that in surgery group was 2?4 d(1?7 d)(P=0?295). The hospital stay was(6?80±2?12) d in endoscopy group and(8?59±2?85)d in surgery group, respectively(P=0?034). And the total hospitalization cost was 10 488(4 128?15 296) yuan and 15 590(3 024?40 503) yuan(P=0?031) in the two groups, re?spectively. The follow?up was 25 months(2?48 months)and no recurrence was found. Conclusion Endo?scopic resection, especially ESD, is a new approach to treat colorectal neuroendocrinal tumor,advantageous over surgery in shorter hospitalization time, minimal invasiveness, faster postoperative recovery, less compli? cation, and reduced hospitalization cost.