Objective To explore the application of plasma 7 microRNA (miR7) testing in the differential diagnosis of very early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods This study is a multicenter real-world study. Patients with single hepatic lesion (maximum diameter≤2 cm) who underwent plasma miR7 testing at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Anhui Provincial Hospital, and Peking University People’s Hospital between January 2019 and December 2024 were retrospectively enrolled. Patients were divided into very early-stage HCC group and non-HCC group, and the clinical pathological characteristics of the two groups were compared. The value of plasma miR7 levels, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) in the differential diagnosis of very early-stage HCC was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC). In patients with both negative AFP and DCP (AFP＜20 ng/mL, DCP＜40 mAU/mL), the diagnostic value of plasma miR7 for very early-stage HCC was analyzed. Results A total of 64 528 patients from 4 hospitals underwent miR7 testing, and 1 682 were finally included, of which 1 073 were diagnosed with very early-stage HCC and 609 were diagnosed with non-HCC. The positive rate of miR7 in HCC patients was significantly higher than that in non-HCC patients (67.9% vs 24.3%, P＜0.001). ROC curves showed that the AUCs for miR7, AFP, and DCP in distinguishing HCC patients from the non-HCC individuals were 0.718, 0.682, and 0.642, respectively. The sensitivities were 67.85%, 43.71%, and 44.45%, and the specificities were 75.70%, 92.78%, and 83.91%, respectively. The pairwise comparison of AUCs showed that the diagnostic efficacy of plasma miR7 detection was significantly better than that of AFP or DCP (P＜0.05). Although its specificity was slightly lower than AFP and DCP, the sensitivity was significantly higher. Among patients negative for both AFP and DCP, miR7 maintained an AUC of 0.728 for diagnosing very early-stage HCC, with 67.82% sensitivity and 77.73% specificity. Conclusions Plasma miR7 testing is a potential molecular marker with high sensitivity and specificity for the differential diagnosis of small hepatic nodules. In patients with very early-stage HCC lacking effective molecular markers (negative for both AFP and DCP), miR7 can serve as a novel and effective molecular marker to assist diagnosis.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease(ASCVD)frequently results in sudden death and poses a serious threat to public health worldwide.The drugs approved for the prevention and treatment of ASCVD are usually used in combination but are inefficient owing to their side effects and single therapeutic targets.Therefore,the use of natural products in developing drugs for the prevention and treatment of ASCVD has received great scholarly attention.Andrographolide(AG)is a diterpenoid lactone compound extracted from Andrographis paniculata.In addition to its use in conditions such as sore throat,AG can be used to prevent and treat ASCVD.It is different from drugs that are commonly used in the prevention and treatment of ASCVD and can not only treat obesity,diabetes,hyperlipidaemia and ASCVD but also inhibit the pathological process of atherosclerosis(AS)including lipid accumulation,inflammation,oxidative stress and cellular abnormalities by regulating various targets and pathways.However,the pharmaco-logical mechanisms of AG underlying the prevention and treatment of ASCVD have not been corrobo-rated,which may hinder its clinical development and application.Therefore,this review summarizes the physiological and pathological mechanisms underlying the development of ASCVD and the in vivo and in vitro pharmacological effects of AG on the relative risk factors of AS and ASCVD.The findings support the use of the old pharmacological compound('old bottle')as a novel drug('novel wine')for the pre-vention and treatment of ASCVD.Additionally,this review summarizes studies on the availability as well as pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic properties of AG,aiming to provide more information regarding the clinical application and further research and development of AG.

Anxiety/epidemiology* ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Sleep ; Sleep Quality ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Universities

Hair roots induced by Agrobacterium rhizogene produce higher levels of secondary metabolites than non-induced plants, and the enhanced metabolic capacity is driven by the rol gene. We hypothesized that rol genes can be utilized to improve the biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids (TAs) in Atropa belladonna. In this study, the rolC gene from Agrobacterium rhizogene pRiA4 plasmid, driven by a CaMV35S promoter, was overexpressed in A. belladonna. The phenotypes, TAs content and transcriptional expression of key genes in TAs biosynthesis were analyzed in transgenic A. belladonna plants. Results show that transgenic A. belladonna exhibited a well-developed root system, male sterility, higher stamen column length than pistil, early flowering, internode shortening, smaller but more flowers, increased axillary buds and lateral buds, decreased apical dominance, and long and narrow leaves as compared to wild-type plants. Transgenic A. belladonna produced more TAs than wild-type plants, with the content of hyoscyamine, anisodamine and scopolamine reaching 2.58, 3.59 and 15.77-fold that of the control group, respectively. The gene expression of putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), tropinone reductase I (TRⅠ) and hyoscyamine 6-β-hydroxylase (H6H), key enzymes in TAs biosynthesis, were up-regulated compared with the control group. The above results indicate that the rolC gene enhances TAs biosynthesis in A. belladonna by up-regulating the expression of key enzymes in the TAs biosynthesis pathway, laying a foundation for genetic manipulation of A. belladonna to increase TAs content by increasing rolC gene expression.

On the basis of the Uncaria transcriptome, specific primers were designed for UrSTR. The full-length cDNA of UrSTR (GeneBank: OL310251) was 1 541 bp, encoding 345 amino acid residues, and the promoter region sequence of UrSTR (GeneBank: OL310252) was 1 179 bp. Phylogenetic tree is revealed that UrSTR had a closest relationship with STR from Ophiorrhiza pumila and Ophiorrhiza japonica. Localization of UrSTR protein is revealed located in the vacuole membrane. Plant-care analysis indicated that the promoter region sequence of UrSTR, covering multiple light, stress and hormone-response cis-regulatory elements, and verified transcriptional activity. The results of SDS-PAGE show that pET-28a-UrSTR recombinant protein was successfully expressed, and the size was anticipated. The UrSTR prokaryotic expression system needs to be optimized in the later stage. The research lays the foundation for further purification to study its structure and functional characterization of the UrSTR protein.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the experiences and outcomes of 108 robot-assisted laparoscopic upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries conducted by a single surgeon. METHODS: We consecutively and retrospectively reviewed 108 patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries by a single surgeon from November 2018 to January 2020. The patient demographics, perioperative variables, postoperative complications and follow-up data were recorded. Fifty-three modified dismembered pyeloplasties (MDP), 11 spiral flap pyeloplasties (SFP), 11 ure-teroureterostomies (UUT), 4 lingual mucosal onlay graft ureteroplasties (LMU), 5 appendiceal onlay flap ureteroplasties (AU), 11 ureteral reimplantations (UR), 6 Boari flap-Psoas hitch surgeries (BPS) and 7 ileal ureter replacements (IUR) were enrolled finally. The success was defined as the improvement in subjective pain levels, and the improvement in the degree of hydronephrosis at ultrasound. RESULTS: All the surgeries were successfully completed without open or laparoscopic conversion. The median operative time was 141 min (range: 74-368 min), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-350 mL) and median hospital stay was 4 d (range: 3-19 d) in MDP group, with the success rate of 94.3%. The median operative time was 159 min (range: 110-222 min), median blood loss was 50 mL (range: 20-150 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 3-8 d) in SFP group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 126 min (range: 76-160 d), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-50 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 4-9 d) in UUT group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 204 min (range: 154-250 min), median blood loss was 30 mL (range: 10-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 6 d (range: 4-7 d) in LMU group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 164 min (range: 135-211 min), median blood loss was 75 mL (range: 50-200 mL) and median hospital stay was 8.5 d (range: 6-12 d) in AU group, with the success rate of 100%. The median operative time was 149 min (range: 100-218 min), median blood loss was 20 mL (range: 10-50 mL) and median hospital stay was 7 d (range: 5-10 d) in UR group, with the success rate of 90.9%. The median operative time was 166 min (range: 137-205 min), median blood loss was 45 mL (range: 20-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 5 d (range: 4-41 d) in BPS group, with the success rate of 83.3%. The median operative time was 270 min (range: 227-335 min), median blood loss was 100 mL (range: 10-100 mL) and median hospital stay was 7 d (range: 5-26 d) in IUR group, with the success rate of 85.7%. CONCLUSIONS The surgeon performed and modified numerous complicated upper urinary tract reconstruction surgeries by the robotic platform, which facilitated the development of the standardized upper urinary tract reconstruction surgical technique.
Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Retrospective Studies ; Robotic Surgical Procedures ; Surgeons ; Treatment Outcome ; Ureter

Objective: To investigate the effect of Yangzheng Sanjie decoction on proliferation, apoptosis and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway of human gastric cancer MKN-45 cells.Method: Gastric cancer cell line MKN-45 was treated for 24, 48, 72 h with Yangzheng Sanjie decoction (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 g·L^-1); cell proliferation was measured by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8); cell colony forming ability was observed by the plate cloning experiment after intervention with Yangzheng Sanjie decoction (0.4, 0.8 g·L^-1); MKN-45 cells was treated with 4, 8 g·L^-1, and then cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry; the expression of ERK and its phosphorylation level were detected by Western blot assay after treatment with 2, 4, 8 g·L^-1.Result: Compared with the blank group, Yangzheng Sanjie decoction could significantly inhibit the proliferation of MKN-45 cells. After treatment for 24, 48 h, Yangzheng Sanjie decoction started from 2 g·L^-1, and after treatment for 72 h, it started from 1.5 g·L^-1, the cell viability gradually decreased in a concentration-dependent manner (P<0.05, P<0.01). After 48 hours of intervention with different concentrations of Yangzheng Sanjie decoction, the cell clone formation rate of Yangzheng Sanjie decoction was significantly lower than that of the blank group with a dose-response relationship (P<0.01). After the intervention with Yangzheng Sanjie decoction at a concentration of 0.8 g·L^-1, cell colonies could not be formed; the apoptosis rate of Yangzheng Sanjie decoction was significantly higher than that of the blank group (P<0.05, P<0.01); after 12 h of intervention, compared with the blank group, Yangzheng Sanjie decoction started from 4 g·L^-1, and the phosphorylation level of ERK protein in MKN-45 cells was down-regulated (P<0.01).Conclusion: Yangzheng Sanjie decoction can inhibit the proliferation of human gastric cancer cell line MKN-45 and promote its apoptosis. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of phosphorylation of ERK.

Purpose To investigate the effects and mechanism of 17β-estradiol on the apoptosis and inflammation of renal tubular cells in rats with renal ischemia/reperfusion injury. Methods All the female Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized and randomly divided into four groups: Control group, Sham group, I/R group and estrogen plus I/R (E2 + I/R) group (n = 8). Right kidney of the rat was excised and artery of the left kidney was blockaded for 45 min.24 h after the reperfusion, we collected the blood and nephridial tissue of each group. An automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the expression level of BUN and Cr in blood. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the pathological changes and the degree of inflammatory reaction of the ischemia/reperfusion injury kidney. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) method was used to detect the apoptosis of renal tubular cells. The expression levels of Cleaved-Caspase-3 protein were measured by Western blot, while the numbers of CD4+ T lymphocyte infiltration in each group were tested by immunofluorescence (IF). Results Compared with the Sham group, expression level of BUN, Cr and Cleaved-Caspase-3 in I/R group significantly increased (P＜0.05) as well as the number of apoptotic cells (P＜0.05). In the meantime, inflammatory reaction significantly aggravated (P＜0.05) and the number of CD4 + T lymphocytes increased remarkably (P＜0.05). However, expression level of BUN, Cr and Gleaved-Caspase-3 in E2 + I/R group decreased significantly (P＜0.05) and the pathological damage in the kidney was alleviated (P＜0.05) compared with I/R group, furthermore, the number of apoptotic cells decreased (P＜0.05) compared with I/R group. The inflammatory reaction significantly blunted (P＜0.05) and the infiltration of CD4 + T lymphocytes decreased remarkably (P＜0.05) compared with I/R group. Conclusion Estrogen can inhibit the expression of Cleaved-Caspase-3 in renal tissue during ischemia/reperfusion injury and reduce the apoptosis of renal tubular cells. It can also reduce the infiltration of CD4 + T lymphocytes, thus playing a protective role on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The effects of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide ( CTAB) , ascorbic acid, NaBH4 and AgNO3 , as well as the stirring time and reaction time on the preparation of gold nanorods synthesized with seedless growth method were studied. The optimum preparation conditions were obtained in the process of growth of gold nanorods. The gold nanorods prepared under different conditions were characterized by visible absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy ( TEM ) . Under the optimum conditions such as room temperature, 0. 1 mol/L CTAB, 96 μmol/L AgNO3 , 0. 97 mmol/L ascorbic acid, 1. 5 μmol/L NaBH4 and stirring for 25 s, micro-sized gold nanorods with uniform morphology, good dispersibility, small shaft width and high aspect ratio were prepared within 6 h. The gold nanorods were expected to be applied to the detection of mercury ion in water environment.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of thermal electroacupuncture therapy in treating lumbodorsal myofascitis. Method Sixty-two patients with lumbodorsal myofascitis were randomized into a treatment group of 30 cases and a control group of 32 cases. The treatment group was intervened by thermal electroacupuncture therapy, while the control group was by orally taking Meloxicam tablets. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was observed before and after treatment, and the clinical efficacies were compared.Result The total effective rate was 100.0% in the treatment group versus 78.1% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The VAS scores were significantly changed after treatment in both groups (P<0.05). After treatment, the VAS score in the treatment group was significantly different from that in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion Thermal electroacupuncture therapy is an effective approach in treating lumbodorsal myofascitis.