Objective To investigate the importance of echoendoscope in identifying common bile duct lesions associated with portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.Methods From November 2022 to January 2023,a group of 37 individuals suffering from liver cirrhosis,portal hypertension,esophageal,and gastric varices underwent echoendoscope analysis to assess the common bile duct wall's thickness,its width,and to examine its cavity's dimensions.Result The common bile duct's wall exhibited roughness with 97.3%(36/37),with an average thickness of 0.19 cm,a width of 0.47 cm,and flocculent deposits constituting 73.0%(27/37).The typical bile duct exhibited curvature in 13.5%(5/37).None of the patients experienced bleeding either during or following the echoendoscope examination.Conclusion The use of echoendoscope distinctly reveals cirrhosis-induced common bile duct and portal hypertension;a majority of cirrhosis and portal hypertension sufferers exhibit inflammation in the common bile duct;this technique is deemed safe for assessing esophageal and gastric varices in cirrhosis patients.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and related socio-demographic factors of schizo-phrenia patients with different ages of onset.Methods:Totally 2 016 patients with schizophrenia aged 15 to 70 were selected according to the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fifth Edition.All of the patients were interviewed by psychiatrists using the Mini International Neuropsy-chiatric Interview to diagnose schizophrenia,Clinical-Rated Dimensions of Psychosis Symptom Severity(CRDPSS)and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS)to assess symptoms.The cut-off points were 18 and 25 years old for three age groups,i.e.early onset(EOS),youth onset(YOS)and adult onset(AOS).Statistical analy-ses were performed by analysis of variance Pearson correlation analysis,and multivariate linear regression.Results:The early-onset patients had the highest total PANSS score(73.8±28.0)and CRDPSS score(11.7±5.4).Fe-male gender,high education level,Han ethnicity,early onset age,and slower onset of illness were negatively corre-lated with the total and dimension score of PANSS scale and CRDPSS scale(standardized regression coefficient:0.04-0.47),and income level and smoking were negatively correlated with those score(standardized regression coefficient:-0.04--0.14).Conclusion:Early-onset schizophrenia patients have more severe symptoms,and fe-male,high education level,early-onset disease,and chronic onset are the risk factors of symptom severity in patients with schizophrenia.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of miR-216a-5p on the radiosensitivity of liver cancer cells via targeting Krüppel-like transcription factors 12 (KLF12).Methods:Real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect miR-216a-5p, KLF12 mRNA levels in normal human liver cells L-02 cells, and human hepatoma cells Huh7, HepG2, Hep3B and MHCC-97H cell lines. HepG2 cells were divided into 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 Gy irradiation groups, and miR-216a-5p, KLF12 mRNA levels were compared among different groups. HepG2 cells overexpressing miR-216a-5p and / or KLF12 were constructed by plasmid transfection and divided into the miR-NC group (control group), miR-216a-5p group, miR-216a-5p+NC group, miR-216a-5p+KLF12 group, IR+miR-NC group, IR+miR-216a-5p group, IR+miR-216a-5p+NC group, IR+miR-216a-5p+KLF12 group, respectively. miR-216a-5p, KLF12 mRNA levels were compared among different groups. Clone formation assay was used to detect cell radiosensitivity. CCK-8 assay was employed to detect cell proliferation ability. Flow cytometry was adopted to detect cell apoptosis. Single factor ANOVA was used for inter group comparisons. LSD- t test was used for pairwise comparison. Results:Compared with L-02 cells, KLF12 mRNA levels were up-regulated, whereas miR-216a-5p levels were down-regulated in liver cancer cell lines (all P<0.05). Compared with 0 Gy group, KLF12 mRNA levels were down-regulated, whereas miR-216a-5p levels were up-regulated in 2, 4, 6, and 8 Gy groups (all P<0.05). Overexpression of miR-216a-5p or radiation therapy alone could enhance cell radiosensitivity and apoptosis levels, and reduce cell proliferation ability (all P<0.05). Simultaneous radiation treatment with overexpression of miR-216a-5p exerted more significant effects on cells (all P<0.05). Overexpression of KLF12 could partially reverse the aforementioned effects of overexpression of miR-216a-5p ( P<0.05). Conclusion:MiR-216a-5p reduces cell proliferation ability, enhances cell radiosensitivity and apoptosis via regulating KLF12.

This paper reports a pair of siblings with congenital short-bowel syndrome (CSBS) complicated with intestinal malrotation. Case 1 was born with a birth weight of 2 550 g and a length of 48 cm. On September 10, 2017, emergency Ladd's procedure and appendectomy were performed on the infant 23 days after birth due to intestinal obstruction at the Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University. The small intestine of the infant had a total length of 65 cm. Postoperative enteral and parenteral nutrition supports were provided for six months. Whole exome sequencing revealed a homozygous variant (NM 024769; nucleotide deletion in the exon 3-5) in the CLMP gene (chr11:122953792-122955421), with the parents being the heterozygous carriers but without phenotype. Case 2, the younger sibling of Case 1, was born in the same hospital on March 20, 2020, with a birth weight of 2 932 g and a body length of 49 cm. Prenatal single-gene sequencing on the amniotic fluid identified the same gene variation as his sister's. The baby boy received Ladd's procedure and appendectomy on the second day after birth which found the length of his small intestine was 51 cm. Full enteral nutrition was achieved six months after the operation. Both cases were followed up for 12 months. The body weight and length of Case 1 were both below the first percentile (< P1). The body weight of Case 2 was 8.03 kg ( P3- P5) and the length was 76.0 cm ( P25- P50).

Dental pulp can initiate its damage repair after an injury of the pulp-dentin complex by rearrangement of odontoblasts and formation of newly differentiated odontoblast-like cells. Connexin 43 (Cx43) is one of the gap junction proteins that participates in multiple tissue repair processes. However, the role of Cx43 in the repair of the dental pulp remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the function of Cx43 in the odontoblast arrangement patterns and odontoblastic differentiation. Human teeth for in vitro experiments were acquired, and a pulp injury model in Sprague-Dawley rats was used for in vivo analysis. The odontoblast arrangement pattern and the expression of Cx43 and dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) were assessed. To investigate the function of Cx43 in odontoblastic differentiation, we overexpressed or inhibited Cx43. The results indicated that polarized odontoblasts were arranged along the pulp-dentin interface and had high levels of Cx43 expression in the healthy teeth; however, the odontoblast arrangement pattern was slightly changed concomitant to an increase in the Cx43 expression in the carious teeth. Regularly arranged odontoblast-like cells had high levels of the Cx43 expression during the formation of mature dentin, but the odontoblast-like cells were not regularly arranged beneath immature osteodentin in the pulp injury models. Subsequent in vitro experiments demonstrated that Cx43 is upregulated during odontoblastic differentiation of the dental pulp cells, and inhibition or overexpression of Cx43 influence the odontoblastic differentiation. Thus, Cx43 may be involved in the maintenance of odontoblast arrangement patterns, and influence the pulp repair outcomes by the regulation of odontoblastic differentiation.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Connexin 43 ; Dental Pulp ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Odontoblasts ; Phosphoproteins ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To study the expression and clinical significance of ARHGAP4 in colorectal cancer Method Real?time PCR,Western blot and immunocytochemistry were used to detect the expression of ARHGAP4 in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines ,and the correlation between its expression and clinical features of patients was analyzed Results ARHGAP4 is overexpressed in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines and its overexpression is correlated with T stage, N stage, clinical stage, and metastasis. Conclusion ARHGAP4 may promote the progression of colorectal cancer ,and have the potential to be a novel prognosis marker.

Objective To evaluate the clinical effect and efficacy of endoscopy treatment for isolated gastric varices 1 with tissue glue and metal clips. Metheds The clinical date of 21 patients who treated tissue glue and metal clips were retrospectively analyzed from Jan 2015 to Dec 2016. Results The treatments were completed successfully and reviewed by endoscopy after 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months. The gastric varices were reduced, and the serious complications of bleeding, embolism were little. Conclusion The endoscopy treatment for isolated gastric varices 1 with tissue glue and metal clips is contributed to clinical effect, and the treatment provides a reference for clinical treatment.

The formulations of pramipexole hydrochloride sustained-release tablets were screened by single factor test and optimized by Box-Behnken design. The effects of the viscosity and content of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, as well as the insoluble sustained-release material combined with HPMC K100M on the in vitro release behavior were investigated. After single factor screening, a three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design was used for optimization using the contents of HPMC K100, Eudragit RSPO and Eudragit L100 as independent variables, and the cumulative release at different time as responses. The optimal range of the three-factor optimized by Box-Behnken design, one of the optimized formulations was achieved with HPMC K100M of 101. 5 mg, Eudragit RSPO of 98 mg, and Eudragit L100 of 13. 7 mg, and the observed responses of the optimized formulation were very close to the predicted values. The in vitro drug release mechanism of the tablet was studied by drug released model fitted with different equations. The results explained that Eudragit RSPO promoted the release of the pramipexole hydrochloride, while Eudragit L100 blocked the release, and there was an antagonism between them. In conclusion, the drug release behavior of optimized formulations prepared by Eudragit RSPO/L100 was stable, less pH-dependent, which improved the drug bioavailability in vivo.

This study examined whether 1-methyl-tryptophan [1-MT, an indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) inhibitor] could reduce CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) proliferation and improve the anti-tumor efficacy of dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with tumor cell lysate in the mice bearing pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were established in C57BL/6 mice by subcutaneous injection of Pan02 cells. Eight mice which were subcutaneously injected with PBS served as control. The expression of IDO was determined in tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) and spleens of the murine pancreatic adenocarcinoma models. The prevalence of Tregs was measured in the TDLNs and spleens before and after 1-MT administration. The dendritic cells were pulsed with tumor cell lysate for preparing DC vaccine. The DC vaccine, as a single agent or in combination with 1-MT, was administered to pancreatic adenocarcinoma mice. The anti-tumor efficacy was determined after different treatments by regular observation of tumor size. The results showed that the levels of IDO mRNA and protein in tumor-bearing mice were significantly higher than those in the normal control mice. The percentage of Tregs in the spleen and TDLNs was also higer in tumor-bearing mice than in normal control mice (P<0.05). Foxp3 expression was significantly lower in the TDLNs and spleens of tumor-bearing mice administrated with 1-MT than that in normal control mice. Furthemore, in the mice that were administered 1-MT plus DC vaccine, the tumor was increased more slowly than in mice treated with DC vaccine or 1-MT alone, or PBS on day 36 (P<0.01). Our results indicated that 1-MT may enhance anti-tumor efficacy of dendritic cells pulsed with tumor cell lysate by downregulating the percentage of Tregs.

This study examined whether 1-methyl-tryptophan[1-MT,an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase(IDO)inhibitor]could reduce CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells(Tregs)proliferation and improve the anti-tumor efficacy of dendritic cells(DCs)pulsed with tumor cell lysate in the mice bearing pancreatic adenocarcinoma.The models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were established in C57BL/6 mice by subcutaneous injection of Pan02 cells.Eight mice which were subcutaneously injected with PBS served as control.The expression of IDO was determined in tumor draining lymph nodes(TDLNs)and spleens of the murine pancreatic adenocarcinoma models.The prevalence of Tregs was measured in the TDLNs and spleens before and after 1-MT administration.The dendritic cells were pulsed with tumor cell lysate for preparing DC vaccine.The DC vaccine,as a single agent or in combination with 1-MT,was administered to pancreatic adenocarcinoma mice.The anti-tumor efficacy was determined after different treatments by regular observation of tumor size.The results showed that the levels of IDO mRNA and protein in tumor-bearing mice were significantly higher than those in the normal control mice.The percentage of Tregs in the spleen and TDLNs was also higer in tumor-bearing mice than in normal control mice(P<0.05).Foxp3 expression was significantly lower in the TDLNs and spleens of tumor-bearing mice administrated with 1-MT than that in normal control mice.Furthemore,in the mice that were administered 1-MT plus DC vaccine,the tumor was increased more slowly than in mice treated with DC vaccine or 1-MT alone,or PBS on day 36(P<0.01).Our results indicated that 1-MT may enhance anti-tumor efficacy of dendritic cells pulsed with tumor cell lysate by downregulating the percentage of Tregs.