Objective:To investigate the value of 24 h urinary aldosterone(24 h-UAC) measurement by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) in the subtype classification of primary aldosteronism(PA).Methods:A total of 86 patients with PA, including 51 with unilateral primary aldosteronism(UPA) and 35 with bilateral primary aldosteronism(BPA), were enrolled in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at West China Hospital between January 2018 and December 2022. Plasma aldosterone concentration(PAC), plasma renin concentration(PRC) and 24 h-UAC were measured by LC-MS/MS. 24-hour urinary electrolytes and 24-hour urinary creatinine(24 h-UCR) were also measured. The diagnostic value of 24 h-UAC in PA subtype classification was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted with PA subtypes as the dependent variable(UPA=1, BPA=0) to establish a diagnostic model for differentiating unilateral from bilateral lesions, and its performance was compared with published Chinese classification models. Results:There were no statistical differences between the UPA and BPA groups in terms of age, gender, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, 24 h urinary potassium, sodium, chloride, 24 h-UCR and PRC( P<0.05). The lowest plasma potassium level was significantly lower in the UPA group than in the BPA group, while PAC, 24 h-UAC, aldosterone-renin ratio(ARR), and 24 h-UAC/UCR were significantly higher( P<0.05). The detection rate of typical adenomas on imaging also showed a significant difference between the two groups( P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve(AUC) of 24 h-UAC for differentiating UPA from BPA was 0.829(95% CI 0.733-0.902), with an optimal cut-off value of 15.4 μg/24 h, yielding a sensitivity of 68.63% and a specificity of 88.57%( P<0.001). At a cut-off value of 24.5 μg/24 h, specificity reached 100%, with a sensitivity of 27.45%. Multivariate analysis indicated that a combined model incorporating 24 h-UAC, the lowest plasma potassium level, and imaging findings of typical adenomas significantly improved diagnostic accuracy for PA subtyping, achieving a specificity of 91.43%. Compared with the existing Chinese modified Küpers scoring model and CONPASS prediction model, this model demonstrated higher diagnostic efficiency, a lower missed diagnosis rate, and a misdiagnosis rate intermediate between the two. Conclusion:The 24 h-UAC in UPA patients is significantly higher than in BPA patients, making it a valuable marker for PA subtype classification. A predictive model combining 24 h-UAC, the lowest plasma potassium level, and imaging evidence of typical adenomas demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for PA subtype classification and may provide valuable guidance for clinical decision-making.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of neuro-Beh?et′s syndrome (NBS) in children.Method:The clinical, brain magnetic resonance imaging and laboratory data of 5 children with NBS diagnosed in the Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University and Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from April 2014 to April 2024 were analyzed retrospectively. The follow-up method was retrospective outpatient or inpatient visit to evaluate the treatment effect of NBS.Result:Among the 5 NBS cases, 2 were male and 3 were female. The age of admission ranged from 8 to 17 years, the time from onset to diagnosis was 2 days to 4 years. Two patients had dizziness, headache and convulsions during the treatment of NBS, 1 patient had disturbance of consciousness, 1 patient gradually developed aphasia, limb movement disorder, dysphagia and muscle weakness after 4 years of Behcet's syndrome, and 1 patient had no clinical symptoms. C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were increased in 4 cases, and cerebrospinal fluid white blood cells and immunoglobulin G were increased in 1 case. Brain magnetic resonance imaging of 4 children showed multiple lesions, including bilateral frontal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, periventricular and corpus callosum lesions. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple demyelinating diseases in 1 case, and cervical and thoracic magnetic resonance imaging showed slender cervical and thoracic spinal cord. All patients were treated with corticosteroids combined with immunosuppressants or biological agents. The children were followed up for 6 months to 4 years, and 4 cases had good treatment results, and 1 case finally gave up treatment.Conclusions:The clinical manifestations of NBS are not specific, and brain magnetic resonance imaging shows that the lesion location and morphology are not specific. NBS children treated with corticosteroids combined with immunosuppressive agents or biological agents have a good prognosis.

Rice is the world's largest food crop, and its yield and quality are directly related to food security and human health. Grain size, as one of the important factors determining the rice yield, has been widely concerned by breeders and researchers for a long time. To decipher the regulatory mechanism of rice grain size, we obtained a multi-tiller, dwarf, and small-grain mutant htd1 by ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutation from the Japonica rice cultivar 'Zhonghua 11' ('ZH11'). Genetic analysis indicated that the phenotype of htd1 was controlled by a single recessive gene. Using the mutation site map (Mutmap) method, we identified the candidate gene OsHTD1, which encoded a carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase involved in the biosynthesis of strigolactone (SL). The SL content in htd1 was significantly lower than that in 'ZH11'. Cytological analysis showed that the grain size of the mutant decreased due to the reductions in the length and width of glume cells. The function of htd1 was further verified by the CRISPR/cas9 gene editing technology. The plants with the gene knockout exhibited similar grain size to the mutant. In addition, gene expression analysis showed that the expression levels of multiple grain size-related genes in the mutant changed significantly, suggesting that HTD1 may interact with other genes regulating grain size. This study provides a new theoretical basis for research on the regulatory mechanism of rice grain size and potential genetic resources for breeding the rice cultivars with high yields.
Oryza/growth & development* ; Mutation ; Edible Grain/growth & development* ; Alleles ; Plant Proteins/genetics* ; Dioxygenases/genetics* ; Lactones/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Genes, Plant ; Gene Editing ; CRISPR-Cas Systems ; Phenotype

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important food crop. The appearance of lesion mimics in rice leads to phytohormone disorders, which affects rice adaptation to environmental stresses and ultimately reduces the yield and quality. To explore whether the changes in the adaptability of rice lesion-mimic mutants to stressful environments are caused by the disorder of phytohormone metabolism in plants. In this study, we screened an ethyl methane sulfonate-treated population of the japonica cultivar 'Taipei 309' for a mutant with rust-like spots on leaves at the early tillering stage and brown-red spots at maturity and named it rsl1 (rust spotted leaf 1). Compared with the wild type, rsl1 showed decreases in plant height, panicle length, primary branch number, secondary branch number, filled grains per panicle, seed-setting rate, and 1 000-grain weight, and an increase in number of effective panicles. Genetic analysis indicated that rsl1 was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene. RSL1 was localized between two molecular markers, B7-7 and B7-9, on rice chromosome 7 by map-based cloning. PCR sequencing of the annotated genes in this interval revealed a mutation of C1683A on the eighth exon of SPL5 (LOC_Os07g10390) in rsl1, which resulted in premature termination of protein translation. Exogenous phytohormone treatments showed that rsl1 was less sensitive to salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA), and indo-3-acetic acid (IAA) and more sensitive to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and gibberellin acid (GA) than the wild type. In addition, the survival rate of rsl1 was lower than that of the wild type under salt, alkali, drought, and high temperature stresses, and it was higher than that of the wild type under cold stress. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results showed that RSL1 was involved in the regulation of ABA, SA, MeJA, IAA, and GA-related genes under abiotic stresses. The present study showed that the RSL1 mutation led to the appearance of lesion mimics and affected the growth, development, and stress resistance of rsl1 under abiotic stresses. The study of the functional mechanism of this gene can provide theoretical guidance for the research on rice stress resistance.
Oryza/microbiology* ; Stress, Physiological/genetics* ; Plant Diseases/genetics* ; Cloning, Molecular ; Chromosome Mapping ; Plant Growth Regulators/metabolism* ; Plant Proteins/genetics* ; Mutation ; Cyclopentanes ; Genes, Plant ; Plant Leaves/genetics* ; Oxylipins

Synthetic biology, recognized as one of the most revolutionary interdisciplinary fields in the 21st century, has established innovative strategies for the genetic improvement of rice through the integration of multidisciplinary technologies including genome editing, genetic circuit design, metabolic engineering, and artificial intelligence. This review systematically summarizes recent research advancements and breakthrough achievements in the application of synthetic biology in the genetic improvement of rice, focusing on three critical domains: yield improvement, nutritional quality fortification, and reinforcement of disease resistance and abiotic stress tolerance. It elucidates that synthetic biology enables precise genomic and metabolic pathway engineering through modular, standard, and systematic approaches, effectively overcoming the limitations of conventional breeding methods characterized by prolonged cycles and restricted trait modification capabilities. The implementation of synthetic biology has facilitated synergistic improvement of multi-traits, thereby providing critical technical references for developing elite rice cultivars with superior productivity and nutritional value. These technological breakthroughs hold significant implications for ensuring global food security and promoting green and sustainable development of agriculture.
Oryza/growth & development* ; Synthetic Biology/methods* ; Metabolic Engineering ; Plant Breeding/methods* ; Gene Editing ; Genetic Engineering/methods* ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics* ; Disease Resistance/genetics*

Objective:To investigate the current status of medication discrepancy in patients after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and its influencing factors.Methods:Convenience sampling was used to select 260 patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent emergency PCI in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from July 2023 to February 2024 for the study. Patients were surveyed using the General Information Questionnaire, Medication Discrepancy Tools, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Drug Literacy Questionnaire for Discharged Patients, and Sense of Coherence-13 Scale. Binomial Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of medication discrepancy.Results:A total of 260 questionnaires were distributed, 247 valid questionnaires were recovered, and the effective recovery rate was 95.00%. There were 166 cases without medication discrepancy and 81 cases with medication discrepancy. Binomial Logistic regression showed that age, occupational status, disease perception, medication literacy, and sense of coherence were the influencing factors of medication discrepancy in patients after emergency PCI ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:There is an urgent need to improve the medication discrepancy in patients after emergency PCI. Healthcare professionals can provide target interventions to patients to reduce the incidence of medication discrepancy by looking at the influencing factors and taking into account the individualized needs of the patients.

Objective:To investigate the current status of medication discrepancy in patients after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and its influencing factors.Methods:Convenience sampling was used to select 260 patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent emergency PCI in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from July 2023 to February 2024 for the study. Patients were surveyed using the General Information Questionnaire, Medication Discrepancy Tools, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Drug Literacy Questionnaire for Discharged Patients, and Sense of Coherence-13 Scale. Binomial Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of medication discrepancy.Results:A total of 260 questionnaires were distributed, 247 valid questionnaires were recovered, and the effective recovery rate was 95.00%. There were 166 cases without medication discrepancy and 81 cases with medication discrepancy. Binomial Logistic regression showed that age, occupational status, disease perception, medication literacy, and sense of coherence were the influencing factors of medication discrepancy in patients after emergency PCI ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:There is an urgent need to improve the medication discrepancy in patients after emergency PCI. Healthcare professionals can provide target interventions to patients to reduce the incidence of medication discrepancy by looking at the influencing factors and taking into account the individualized needs of the patients.

Objective:To investigate the value of 24 h urinary aldosterone(24 h-UAC) measurement by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) in the subtype classification of primary aldosteronism(PA).Methods:A total of 86 patients with PA, including 51 with unilateral primary aldosteronism(UPA) and 35 with bilateral primary aldosteronism(BPA), were enrolled in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at West China Hospital between January 2018 and December 2022. Plasma aldosterone concentration(PAC), plasma renin concentration(PRC) and 24 h-UAC were measured by LC-MS/MS. 24-hour urinary electrolytes and 24-hour urinary creatinine(24 h-UCR) were also measured. The diagnostic value of 24 h-UAC in PA subtype classification was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted with PA subtypes as the dependent variable(UPA=1, BPA=0) to establish a diagnostic model for differentiating unilateral from bilateral lesions, and its performance was compared with published Chinese classification models. Results:There were no statistical differences between the UPA and BPA groups in terms of age, gender, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, 24 h urinary potassium, sodium, chloride, 24 h-UCR and PRC( P<0.05). The lowest plasma potassium level was significantly lower in the UPA group than in the BPA group, while PAC, 24 h-UAC, aldosterone-renin ratio(ARR), and 24 h-UAC/UCR were significantly higher( P<0.05). The detection rate of typical adenomas on imaging also showed a significant difference between the two groups( P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve(AUC) of 24 h-UAC for differentiating UPA from BPA was 0.829(95% CI 0.733-0.902), with an optimal cut-off value of 15.4 μg/24 h, yielding a sensitivity of 68.63% and a specificity of 88.57%( P<0.001). At a cut-off value of 24.5 μg/24 h, specificity reached 100%, with a sensitivity of 27.45%. Multivariate analysis indicated that a combined model incorporating 24 h-UAC, the lowest plasma potassium level, and imaging findings of typical adenomas significantly improved diagnostic accuracy for PA subtyping, achieving a specificity of 91.43%. Compared with the existing Chinese modified Küpers scoring model and CONPASS prediction model, this model demonstrated higher diagnostic efficiency, a lower missed diagnosis rate, and a misdiagnosis rate intermediate between the two. Conclusion:The 24 h-UAC in UPA patients is significantly higher than in BPA patients, making it a valuable marker for PA subtype classification. A predictive model combining 24 h-UAC, the lowest plasma potassium level, and imaging evidence of typical adenomas demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for PA subtype classification and may provide valuable guidance for clinical decision-making.

Bone substitute material implantation has become an important treatment strategy for the repair of oral and maxillofacial bone defects. Recent studies have shown that appropriate inflammatory and immune cells are essential factors in the process of osteoinduction of bone substitute materials. Previous studies have mainly focused on innate immune cells such as macrophages. In our previous work, we found that T lymphocytes, as adaptive immune cells, are also essential in the osteoinduction procedure. As the most important antigen-presenting cell, whether dendritic cells (DCs) can recognize non-antigen biomaterials and participate in osteoinduction was still unclear. In this study, we found that surgical trauma associated with materials implantation induces necrocytosis, and this causes the release of high mobility group protein-1 (HMGB1), which is adsorbed on the surface of bone substitute materials. Subsequently, HMGB1-adsorbed materials were recognized by the TLR4-MYD88-NFκB signal axis of dendritic cells, and the inflammatory response was activated. Finally, activated DCs release regeneration-related chemokines, recruit mesenchymal stem cells, and initiate the osteoinduction process. This study sheds light on the immune-regeneration process after bone substitute materials implantation, points out a potential direction for the development of bone substitute materials, and provides guidance for the development of clinical surgical methods.
Biocompatible Materials/metabolism* ; HMGB1 Protein/metabolism* ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/metabolism* ; Bone Substitutes/metabolism* ; Dendritic Cells/metabolism*

Objective:To compare the efficacy and safety of retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (RLA) and transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (TLA) in the treatment of localized adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC).Methods:The data of 22 patients with stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ ACC underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy in our institution from January 2009 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the different surgical approaches, these patients were divided into RLA and TLA groups. Eleven patients underwent RLA and 11 patients underwent TLA. There were no significant differences between the RLA group and the TLA group in terms of age at first diagnosis[44 (35, 54) vs. 46(41, 55) years, P= 0.793], sex (male/female: 3/8 vs. 4/7, P = 1.00), secreting tumor ratio (3/11 vs. 4/11, P = 1.00), tumor location (left/right: 6/6 vs. 7/4, P = 1.00), with hypertension or diabetes mellitus (4/11 vs. 3/11, P = 1.00). However, RLA has significantly smaller tumor size [3.0(2.5, 8.4) cm vs. 7.7(5.2, 8.4)cm, P= 0.001], and more stage Ⅰ patients [90.9%(10/11) vs. 18.2%(2/11), P=0.002], compared with those in TLA group. The perioperative indicators and oncology prognosis outcomes were collected and compared between the two groups. The Kaplan-Meier method was performed to calculate the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results:Compared with TLA, RLA had shorter operation time[90(70, 100) vs. 110 (90, 120) min, P = 0.005] and postoperative drainage tube removal time [2 (2, 3) vs. 3 (2, 6) day, P = 0.002), and the difference was statistically significant. In the TLA group, one patient was converted to open operation due to intraoperative tumor capsule rupture. For postoperative complications, one patient in the TLA group suffered with wound infection. There were no perioperative deaths in either group. All postoperative pathological examinations confirmed ACC, and there was no significant difference in Ki-67 index between the two groups [10%(3%, 35%) vs. 10%(9%, 25%), P = 0.484]. The median follow-up was similar in the two groups [48(26, 98) vs. 31(18, 49) months, P=0.237]. The local recurrence and metastasis rates were 36.4% for RLA group and 63.6% for TLA group ( P = 0.395). Survival analysis showed no statistically significant difference in DFS [5-year DFS rate: 33.6% vs. 73.2%, P = 0.118] between the two groups. The 5-year OS rates for RLA group versus TLA group were 58.3% vs. 45.5% ( P=0.485). Conclusions:For localized (stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ) ACC, both RLA and TLA seem safe and feasible, based on the similar long-term oncological prognosis. However, compared with TLA, RLA has the advantage of shorter operation time and postoperative drainage tube removal time. Due to the small number of cases included in this study, further multi-center, large-sample studies are required to demonstrate clear benefit of one surgical approach in the future.