As a pivotal strategy to alleviate the shortage of organ donors, xenotransplantation has achieved remarkable advances in both pre-clinical and clinical studies in recent years, driven by continuous optimization of gene modification techniques and immunosuppressive regimens. Nevertheless, clinical translation still confronts formidable challenges, including rejection and heightened infection risks, which severely compromise long-term graft survival. Consequently, the role of immunosuppressive regimens in xenotransplantation has become increasingly prominent. This article summarizes the mechanisms underlying xenogeneic immune rejection, the latest developments in immunosuppressive regimens, cutting-edge strategies for inducing immune tolerance and the major hurdles facing clinical xenotransplantation. It delves into potential optimization strategies and directions for future clinical research, aiming to offer theoretical insights and practical guidance for the safe and effective application of clinical xenotransplantation.

Xenotransplantation is one of the effective ways to overcome the shortage of donor organs. However, the molecular incompatibility between xenotransplantation donors and recipients can cause rejection, which greatly limits the clinical application of xenotransplantation. In recent years, researchers have deeply explored the mechanism of xenotransplantation rejection through xenotransplantation models of pig-to-monkey and pig-to-brain death recipients, and found that the innate immune system plays an important role in rejection. Macrophages, as phagocytes in the innate immune system, not only damage xenografts through phagocytosis but also interact with other immune cells to influence the immune microenvironment of xenotransplantation. However, due to the heterogeneity of macrophages, their phenotypes and functions in xenotransplantation rejection remain unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore the role of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection. This article reviews the latest research progress of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection, aiming to explore the mechanisms of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection and provide references for future research.

Robot-assisted surgery with its advantages such as three-dimensional high-definition vision, dexterous robotic arms, and tremor filtration, is increasingly being applied to complex radical gastrectomy. However, the role of the surgical assistant remains crucial during the procedure. The assistant is responsible for tasks outside the console, including adjusting robotic arms, changing instruments, exposing the surgical field, and addressing unexpected situations. The technical proficiency of the assistant and their collaboration efficiency with the primary surgeon directly impact the smoothness of surgery and patients' outcomes. With the expansion of robot-assisted surgical indications, the establishment of a standardized training system and the optimization of team collaboration models have become urgent challenges to address. This article draws on the author's practical experience as an assistant in robot-assisted gastric cancer surgeries, conducting an in-depth analysis of the responsibilities and operational skills of surgical assistants in robot-assisted procedures. The aim is to develop a relatively comprehensive set of operational guidelines for surgical assistants in robot-assisted radical gastrectomy, providing valuable references for enhancing the overall efficiency of surgical teams and improving surgical outcomes.

Objective:Comprehensive characterization of B-cell phenotypes and spatial distribution in oral lichen planus (OLP) and related oral lichenoid lesions (OLL)(OLP/OLL), with an emphasis on transcriptomic profiling and functional analysis, to uncover the epigenetic mechanisms underlying B cell-mediated immune regulation within the oral mucosal microenvironment.Methods:Single-cell RNA sequencing raw data were sourced from the GSE211630 database, encompassing samples from 2 cases of erosive OLP (EOLP), 3 cases of non-erosive OLP (NEOLP) and 1 healthy control (NORMAL). Following stringent quality control, the data underwent normalization, selection of highly variable genes and batch effect correction. Subsequent analyses included dimensionality reduction and unsupervised clustering to identify distinct cell populations. This study collected pathological specimens from 3 OLP/OLL patients and 3 healthy controls who were treated at the Department of Oral Medicine, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2021 to December 2023. Using 10X Genomics Visium HD spatial transcriptomics technology, tissue sections were processed through dewaxing, staining and histological imaging, enabling the reconstruction of nucleic acid structures and the capture of gene expression profiles. Data analysis included quality assessment, gene quantification, normalization, dimensionality reduction and clustering. Furthermore, cell type deconvolution was performed using the robust cell type decomposition algorithm, integrating single-cell transcriptomic data to accurately predict and spatially resolve cell type distributions within the tissue microenvironment.Results:After integrating single-cell data from EOLP, NEOLP and NORMAL, cells were classified into seven major categories: B/plasma cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, fibroblasts, myeloid cells, smooth muscle cells and T/natural killer cells. The proportion of B/plasma cells varied significantly among the three groups, accounting for 10.7% (1 693/15 815), 3.8% (833/21 653) and 0.4% (47/11 556) of the total cells respectively. Further clustering analysis of B/plasma cells identified four distinct subpopulations: naive B cells, activated B cells, memory B cells and plasma cells. In the EOLP group, these subpopulations constituted 25.9% (348/1 344), 45.9% (617/1 344), 3.3% (45/1 344) and 24.9% (334/1 344) of the B/plasma cells respectively. In the NEOLP group, they represented 31.6% (195/617), 59.6% (368/617), 0.2% (1/617) and 8.6% (53/617). Howerer, only plasma cells were detected in the NORMAL group. Spatial analysis revealed that B cells were actively involved in the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) at various stages in OLP/OLL samples, with a prominent structural organization observed in secondary follicle-like TLS. Within these structures, the expressions of T cells marker gene CD3E and B cells marker gene MS4A1 were significantly elevated. Additionally, in secondary follicle-like TLS, the gene encoding follicular dendritic cell secreted protein, germinal center marker gene B cell lymphoma 6 and the gene for activation induced cytidine deaminase also showed strong expression. In OLP/OLL samples, plasma cell marker gene CD38, immunoglobulin (IGH) G3, IGHG1, IGHM, IGHD, IGHE, imunoglobulin Kappa constant, immunoglobulin alpha 1, immunoglobulin Lambda constant 1 and complement gene C3 all exhibited high levels of expression.Conclusions:Compared to normal mucosa, extensive B-cell infiltration is observed in both OLP and OLL, accompanied by significant differences in B-cell phenotypes and proportions. B cells appear to play a central role in local immune responses, primarily through the formation of TLS. However, the precise functional mechanisms underlying their involvement require further investigation.

Objective:Comprehensive characterization of B-cell phenotypes and spatial distribution in oral lichen planus (OLP) and related oral lichenoid lesions (OLL)(OLP/OLL), with an emphasis on transcriptomic profiling and functional analysis, to uncover the epigenetic mechanisms underlying B cell-mediated immune regulation within the oral mucosal microenvironment.Methods:Single-cell RNA sequencing raw data were sourced from the GSE211630 database, encompassing samples from 2 cases of erosive OLP (EOLP), 3 cases of non-erosive OLP (NEOLP) and 1 healthy control (NORMAL). Following stringent quality control, the data underwent normalization, selection of highly variable genes and batch effect correction. Subsequent analyses included dimensionality reduction and unsupervised clustering to identify distinct cell populations. This study collected pathological specimens from 3 OLP/OLL patients and 3 healthy controls who were treated at the Department of Oral Medicine, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2021 to December 2023. Using 10X Genomics Visium HD spatial transcriptomics technology, tissue sections were processed through dewaxing, staining and histological imaging, enabling the reconstruction of nucleic acid structures and the capture of gene expression profiles. Data analysis included quality assessment, gene quantification, normalization, dimensionality reduction and clustering. Furthermore, cell type deconvolution was performed using the robust cell type decomposition algorithm, integrating single-cell transcriptomic data to accurately predict and spatially resolve cell type distributions within the tissue microenvironment.Results:After integrating single-cell data from EOLP, NEOLP and NORMAL, cells were classified into seven major categories: B/plasma cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, fibroblasts, myeloid cells, smooth muscle cells and T/natural killer cells. The proportion of B/plasma cells varied significantly among the three groups, accounting for 10.7% (1 693/15 815), 3.8% (833/21 653) and 0.4% (47/11 556) of the total cells respectively. Further clustering analysis of B/plasma cells identified four distinct subpopulations: naive B cells, activated B cells, memory B cells and plasma cells. In the EOLP group, these subpopulations constituted 25.9% (348/1 344), 45.9% (617/1 344), 3.3% (45/1 344) and 24.9% (334/1 344) of the B/plasma cells respectively. In the NEOLP group, they represented 31.6% (195/617), 59.6% (368/617), 0.2% (1/617) and 8.6% (53/617). Howerer, only plasma cells were detected in the NORMAL group. Spatial analysis revealed that B cells were actively involved in the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) at various stages in OLP/OLL samples, with a prominent structural organization observed in secondary follicle-like TLS. Within these structures, the expressions of T cells marker gene CD3E and B cells marker gene MS4A1 were significantly elevated. Additionally, in secondary follicle-like TLS, the gene encoding follicular dendritic cell secreted protein, germinal center marker gene B cell lymphoma 6 and the gene for activation induced cytidine deaminase also showed strong expression. In OLP/OLL samples, plasma cell marker gene CD38, immunoglobulin (IGH) G3, IGHG1, IGHM, IGHD, IGHE, imunoglobulin Kappa constant, immunoglobulin alpha 1, immunoglobulin Lambda constant 1 and complement gene C3 all exhibited high levels of expression.Conclusions:Compared to normal mucosa, extensive B-cell infiltration is observed in both OLP and OLL, accompanied by significant differences in B-cell phenotypes and proportions. B cells appear to play a central role in local immune responses, primarily through the formation of TLS. However, the precise functional mechanisms underlying their involvement require further investigation.

Objective:To evaluate the short-term and long-term outcomes of patients with locally advanced low rectal cancer who achieved clinical complete response (cCR) or near-clinical complete response (near-cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and then underwent local excision.Methods:This was a descriptive case series study. Clinical data of patients with low rectal cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy, achieved cCR or near-cCR, underwent local excision, and had complete postoperative follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed. The study period was from May, 2015 to October, 2024, and the patients were treated at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. Indications for local excision in this study were as follows: pathologically confirmed rectal adenocarcinoma, with the lower edge of the tumor ≤ 6 cm from the anal verge; maximum diameter of the lesion ≤ 2 cm after nCRT; no regional lymph node metastasis detected by transrectal endoscopic ultrasound (ERUS), pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) after nCRT; MRI showing fibrosis of the primary lesion with a small amount of high signal on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), consistent with ymrT0-1 stage; serum carcinoembryonic antigen level within the normal range (< 5 μg/L) after nCRT; complicated with severe underlying diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and assessed as unable to tolerate radical surgery through comprehensive evaluation; and signed informed consent for local excision. The contraindications were: colonoscopic pathology indicating poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma or signet ring cell carcinoma; suspected lateral lymph node metastasis before neoadjuvant therapy; patients with residual lesions exceeding 3 cm in range after treatment. A total of 153 patients were included in this study, including 84 males and 69 females. The median age was 62 years, and the median distance from the tumor to the anal verge after neoadjuvant therapy was 4.0 cm. The short-term efficacy indicators of this study included postoperative complications of local excision and postoperative pathological results, and the long-term efficacy indicators included oncological prognosis (3-year cumulative local recurrence rate, 3-year cumulative distant metastasis rate, 3-year progression-free survival, and 3-year overall survival) and anal function at 1 year after surgery evaluated using the Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS) scale where the total score is 42 points such that 0-20 points indicate no LARS, 21-29 points indicate mild LARS, and 30-42 points indicate severe LARS.Results:Postoperative pathology showed 122 cases (79.7%) of ypT0 stage, 10 cases (6.5%) of ypT1 stage, 18 cases (11.8%) of ypT2 stage, and 3 cases (2.0%) of ypT3 stage. The incidence of surgery-related complications was 42.5% (65/153), and the main complications included perianal pain (39.9%, 61/153), intestinal wall incision dehiscence (21.6%, 33/153), and intestinal wall incision infection (18.3%, 28/153). The proportion of patients who received hypofractionated radiotherapy before surgery and developed intestinal wall incision dehiscence was 65.2% (15/23), which was higher than that in the conventional long-course (13.6%, 16/118) and short-course radiotherapy groups (16.7%,2/12) (χ 2=30.55, P<0.001); of the 20 patients who received additional immunotherapy before surgery, 13 developed intestinal wall incision dehiscence was 65.0%, which was higher than that in the group without additional immunotherapy [15.0%(20/133),χ 2=25.66, P<0.001]. The median follow-up time of the entire group was 35.4 months. During the follow-up period, there were 9 cases of postoperative local recurrence, with a 3-year cumulative local recurrence rate of 7.9% and 5 cases of distant metastasis, with a 3-year cumulative distant metastasis rate of 5.0%. The 3-year progression-free survival rate was 89.0%, and the 3-year overall survival rate was 95.9%. At 1 year after surgery, 10 cases (10.5%, 10/95) had severe anal dysfunction, and the median LARS score of the entire group was 5.0 (range: 0-41.0) points. Conclusions:For patients with locally advanced low rectal cancer who achieve cCR or near-cCR after neoadjuvant therapy, local excision results in favorable oncological prognosis and anal function preservation effects; however, the incidence of complications is relatively high.

The plague is a infectious disease of natural focus. The occurrence of animal plague is a complex biological phenomenon, which is affected by many factors such as hosts, vectors, geographical landscapes, climate, human activities and so on. Its epidemiological patterns exhibit spatial and temporal characteristics. Therefore, the plague monitoring and early warning has always been the key to plague prevention and control, and remains a current research hotspot. In recent years, with the advancement of spatial epidemiology technology, it has been increasingly applied in plague prevention and control, and has made remarkable achievements in exploring the spatio-temporal relationships, influencing factors, monitoring and early warning of the plague. This article provides an overview of specific applications of spatial epidemiological methods in four areas, including spatial visualization of plague outbreaks, aggregation analysis, exploration of influencing factors, risk prediction and early warning. It aims to offer insights for the plague prevention and control personnel to better understand the suddenness and complexity of the plague from the perspective of spatial epidemiology, to uncover the epidemiological patterns of the plague, and to provide a reference for precise plague prevention and control.

Organ transplantation faces the challenge of a shortage of donors. Although xenotransplantation holds great potential, it is limited by rejection. Extracellular histones, as key members of damage-associated molecular patterns, have been proven in recent years to play a crucial role in transplant rejection by activating innate immunity, regulating the coagulation-inflammation network, and modulating adaptive immune responses. However, the specific functions and key mechanisms remain to be clarified. Therefore, this article reviews the structural characteristics of histones, their release pathways, the biological functions of extracellular histones, and their potential roles in xenotransplantation. It summarizes the latest research progress of extracellular histones in xenotransplantation, analyzes the shortcomings of existing research and the direction for future research, with the expectation of providing references for the application of extracellular histones in xenogeneic kidney transplantation.

Objective To analyze the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in individuals with circadian rhythm disruption and their correlation with cognition.Methods Night shift workers and regular shift workers were subjected from our hospital during August 2022 and October 2024.The participants with circadian rhythm disorders were assigned into an experimental group(n=24),and those with normal circadian rhythms were into a control group(n=24).Their height,weight,age,gender,body mass index(BMI)and fresh fecal samples were collected,and Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)and Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE)were used to evaluate their mental status.Metagenomics,Alpha and Beta diversity analyses,Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size(LEfSe),and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)analysis were employed to investigate the diversity and function characteristics of gut microbiota in the participants.Results There were no statistical differences between the 2 groups in baseline data,such as height,weight,gender,age,and BMI(P>0.05).Alpha diversity analysis indicated that no statistical differences were observed in the ACE,Chao1,Shannon,or Simpson indices between the 2 groups,while beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences(P<0.01),suggesting different structure of gut microbiota between them.In the experimental group,the abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Agathobacter rectalis was decreased,while that of Escherichia coli and Phocaeicola vulgaratus was increased,with significant differences when compared with the control group(P<0.05).Additionally,KEGG functional analysis showed that the experimental group had obviously higher expression levels in Th17 cell differentiation and the IL-17 signaling pathway than the control group(P<0.05).Agathobacter rectalis and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were positively correlated with MoCA score and MMSE score(P<0.05,P<0.01).Agathobacter rectalis was negatively correlated with the IL-17 signaling pathway and Th17 cell differentiation.Conclusion Individuals with circadian rhythm disorders have significant changes in the structure and function of gut microbiota when compared to those with normal circadian rhythms.Agathobacter rectalis may be involved in the regulation of the IL-17 signaling pathway and differentiation of Th17 cells,thereby possibly impacting the increases of cognitive score related to circadian rhythm disorders.

Objective: To genotype 50 RhD variant samples from Guangzhou, China, using our previously established genotyping strategy, thereby providing guidance for transfusion management and antenatal monitoring in RhD-variant individuals. Methods: Between June and August 2024, fifty samples identified as RhD variants during RhD-negative confirmation testing at Guangzhou Blood Center were collected. Serological testing for the D antigen was performed with two different anti-D reagents, and the epitope profiles of the D antigen were determined using a commercial panel of monoclonal anti-D reagents containing nine kinds of monoclonal anti-D. Genomic DNA was extracted, and high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was applied to detect the Asian-type DEL (RHD 1227A). Subsequently, RHD genotyping was carried out using Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) and Sanger sequencing. Results: Among the 50 D variant samples, 17 (34.0%) Asian type DEL samples were detected by HRM, including 13 cases with RHD DEL1/01N.01 genotype and 4 cases with RHD DEL1/DEL1 genotype. Eleven (11/50, 22.0%) samples were typed as DVI by the epitope profiles of D antigen. The epitope profiles of D antigen combined with Sanger sequencing of exon 6 identified 5 (5/50, 10.0%) cases of RHD weak partial 15/01N.01. MLPA combined with Sanger sequencing identified two cases of RHD DVI.3/DEL1, representing 4.0% (2/50) of the samples. Additionally, the following RHD genotypes were each detected in one case: RHD weak D type 18/01N.04, RHD weak D type 72/01N.01, RHD weak D type 95/DEL1, RHD weak D type 114/DEL1, RHD weak D type 136/DEL1, RHD weak D type 147/01N.01, RHD 496G/496G, RHD 536C/01N.01, RHD 689A/689A, RHD 689A/DEL1, RHD DEL32/DEL1, RHD DV.1/01N.01, RHD DV.5/01N.01, RHD 01.01/01N.01, and RHD 01/01N.01. Conclusion: Fifty D variant individuals were typed using our previously established serological and molecular approach. These findings provide guidance for precision transfusion therapy in RhD variant patients and inform evidence-based decisions regarding anti-D immunoglobulin prophylaxis for RhD variant pregnant women.