Objective:To evaluate the expression of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in renal tissues, and the relationship between TLS and clinicopathological changes and prognosis in idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) patients.Methods:It was a single center retrospective study. The patients with IMN diagnosed by renal biopsy at Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University from January 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled, and their clinicopathological data were collected. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of TLS in renal tissues. According to whether TLS expression in renal tissues was positive or not, the patients were divided into TLS-positive group and TLS-negative group, and the baseline differences in clinicopathological data between the two groups were compared. The clinical remission included complete remission and partial remission. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibody titer and positive TLS expression in renal tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test were performed to analyze the differences of proteinuria remission rates between TLS-positive and TLS-negative groups. Cox regression analysis was employed to identify the related factors of proteinuria remission. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the value of TLS in predicting proteinuria remission.Results:A total of 120 IMN patients were included in this study, with age of 50.00 (40.00, 57.75) years and 78 (65.00%) males. The 24-hour urinary protein was (7.54±4.14) g, 89 (74.17%) patients were positive for serum PLA2R antibody, and the serum PLA2R antibody titer was 90.49 (48.88, 155.33) RU/ml. Immunohistochemical results showed that TLS was mainly distributed in the renal cortex glomeruli or around renal blood vessels in renal tissues. There were 43 patients in the TLS-positive group and 77 patients in the TLS-negative group. The positive rate of serum PLA2R antibody in the TLS-positive group was 83.72% (36/43). Compared with the TLS-negative group, the TLS-positive group had lower serum albumin ( t=-3.474, P<0.001) and estimated glomerular filtration rate ( Z=-2.076, P=0.045), while serum creatinine ( t=2.006, P=0.028), 24-hour urinary protein ( t=4.140, P<0.001), serum PLA2R antibody titer ( Z=4.628, P=0.001), glomerulosclerosis degree ( Z=2.403, P=0.019), and proportions of hypertension ( χ2=6.511, P=0.011), renal interstitial fibrosis ( χ2=4.088, P=0.043), renal interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration ( χ2=9.261, P=0.002), tubular atrophy ( χ2=4.936, P=0.026) and extremely high-risk of kidney disease progression ( χ2=9.352, P=0.002) were higher. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum PLA2R antibody titer was an independent factor correlated with positive TLS expression in renal tissues ( OR=1.014, 95% CI 1.007-1.021). The median follow-up time was 18.00 (95% CI 16.07-19.93) months. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the proteinuria remission rate in the TLS-positive group was lower than that in the TLS-negative group (Log-rank χ2=9.339, P=0.002). Cox regression analysis showed that positive TLS expression was an independent factor correlated with proteinuria remission ( HR=0.228, 95% CI 0.177-0.297). ROC curve showed that TLS had a certain clinical predictive value for proteinuria remission ( AUC=0.703, 95% CI 0.608-0.798). Conclusions:IMN patients with positive TLS expression in renal tissues have a lower proteinuria remission rate, more severe pathological damage, and a higher risk of disease progression. TLS is expected to become a pathological marker for predicting the severity and prognosis of IMN.

OBJECTIVE To explore the distribution of pathogens isolated from the thoracoscopic lobectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections and observe the expressions of maternal expression gene 3(MEG3)/microribonucleic acid-223(miR-223)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)axis in peripheral blood.METHODS Totally 48 lung cancer patients who underwent thoracoscopic lobec-tomy and had postoperative pulmonary infections in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chi-nese Medicine from Jun.2021 to Jun.2024 were assigned as the infection group,meanwhile,31 lung cancer pa-tients who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy but did not have postoperative infections were chosen as the no in-fection group.The sputum specimens were collected from the infection group,the distribution of isolated patho-gens was analyzed.The clinical data and the expression MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 were observed and compared between the two groups.The values of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 in prediction of the postoperative infections were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.RESULTS Totally 63 strains of pathogens were i-solated from the 48 thoracoscopic lobectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections,33(52.38％)of which were gram-negative bacteria,25(39.68％)were gram-positive bacteria,and 5(7.94％)were fungi.There were significant differences in age,diabetes mellitus,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD),operation duration,and expression levels of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 between the infection group and the no infection group(P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curves of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 and the joint detection of the three indexes were 0.861,0.760,0.912 and 0.968,respectively,in prediction of the post-operative pulmonary infections,and the predictive efficiency of the joint detection was highest(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The gram-negative bacteria are dominant among the pathogens isolated from the thoracoscopic lo-bectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections,the occurrence and progression of the infections may be closely associated with the activation of MEG3/miR-223/NLRP3 axis.The joint detection of the three indexes can effectively predict the postoperative pulmonary infections in the thoracoscopic lobectomy patients.

OBJECTIVE To explore the distribution of pathogens isolated from the thoracoscopic lobectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections and observe the expressions of maternal expression gene 3(MEG3)/microribonucleic acid-223(miR-223)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)axis in peripheral blood.METHODS Totally 48 lung cancer patients who underwent thoracoscopic lobec-tomy and had postoperative pulmonary infections in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chi-nese Medicine from Jun.2021 to Jun.2024 were assigned as the infection group,meanwhile,31 lung cancer pa-tients who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy but did not have postoperative infections were chosen as the no in-fection group.The sputum specimens were collected from the infection group,the distribution of isolated patho-gens was analyzed.The clinical data and the expression MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 were observed and compared between the two groups.The values of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 in prediction of the postoperative infections were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.RESULTS Totally 63 strains of pathogens were i-solated from the 48 thoracoscopic lobectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections,33(52.38％)of which were gram-negative bacteria,25(39.68％)were gram-positive bacteria,and 5(7.94％)were fungi.There were significant differences in age,diabetes mellitus,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD),operation duration,and expression levels of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 between the infection group and the no infection group(P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curves of MEG3,miR-223 and NLRP3 and the joint detection of the three indexes were 0.861,0.760,0.912 and 0.968,respectively,in prediction of the post-operative pulmonary infections,and the predictive efficiency of the joint detection was highest(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The gram-negative bacteria are dominant among the pathogens isolated from the thoracoscopic lo-bectomy patients with postoperative pulmonary infections,the occurrence and progression of the infections may be closely associated with the activation of MEG3/miR-223/NLRP3 axis.The joint detection of the three indexes can effectively predict the postoperative pulmonary infections in the thoracoscopic lobectomy patients.

Objective:To evaluate the expression of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in renal tissues, and the relationship between TLS and clinicopathological changes and prognosis in idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) patients.Methods:It was a single center retrospective study. The patients with IMN diagnosed by renal biopsy at Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University from January 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled, and their clinicopathological data were collected. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of TLS in renal tissues. According to whether TLS expression in renal tissues was positive or not, the patients were divided into TLS-positive group and TLS-negative group, and the baseline differences in clinicopathological data between the two groups were compared. The clinical remission included complete remission and partial remission. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibody titer and positive TLS expression in renal tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test were performed to analyze the differences of proteinuria remission rates between TLS-positive and TLS-negative groups. Cox regression analysis was employed to identify the related factors of proteinuria remission. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the value of TLS in predicting proteinuria remission.Results:A total of 120 IMN patients were included in this study, with age of 50.00 (40.00, 57.75) years and 78 (65.00%) males. The 24-hour urinary protein was (7.54±4.14) g, 89 (74.17%) patients were positive for serum PLA2R antibody, and the serum PLA2R antibody titer was 90.49 (48.88, 155.33) RU/ml. Immunohistochemical results showed that TLS was mainly distributed in the renal cortex glomeruli or around renal blood vessels in renal tissues. There were 43 patients in the TLS-positive group and 77 patients in the TLS-negative group. The positive rate of serum PLA2R antibody in the TLS-positive group was 83.72% (36/43). Compared with the TLS-negative group, the TLS-positive group had lower serum albumin ( t=-3.474, P<0.001) and estimated glomerular filtration rate ( Z=-2.076, P=0.045), while serum creatinine ( t=2.006, P=0.028), 24-hour urinary protein ( t=4.140, P<0.001), serum PLA2R antibody titer ( Z=4.628, P=0.001), glomerulosclerosis degree ( Z=2.403, P=0.019), and proportions of hypertension ( χ2=6.511, P=0.011), renal interstitial fibrosis ( χ2=4.088, P=0.043), renal interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration ( χ2=9.261, P=0.002), tubular atrophy ( χ2=4.936, P=0.026) and extremely high-risk of kidney disease progression ( χ2=9.352, P=0.002) were higher. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum PLA2R antibody titer was an independent factor correlated with positive TLS expression in renal tissues ( OR=1.014, 95% CI 1.007-1.021). The median follow-up time was 18.00 (95% CI 16.07-19.93) months. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the proteinuria remission rate in the TLS-positive group was lower than that in the TLS-negative group (Log-rank χ2=9.339, P=0.002). Cox regression analysis showed that positive TLS expression was an independent factor correlated with proteinuria remission ( HR=0.228, 95% CI 0.177-0.297). ROC curve showed that TLS had a certain clinical predictive value for proteinuria remission ( AUC=0.703, 95% CI 0.608-0.798). Conclusions:IMN patients with positive TLS expression in renal tissues have a lower proteinuria remission rate, more severe pathological damage, and a higher risk of disease progression. TLS is expected to become a pathological marker for predicting the severity and prognosis of IMN.

Objective To study the correlation between carotid bifurcation geometry and atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability using high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI),and to seek the potential predictor for vulnerable plaque for-mation.Methods The clinical information and imaging data of 104 patients with carotid bifurcation plaque detected by HRMR-VWI were analyzed retrospectively.Carotid bifurcation geometric parameters was measured to determine whether the carotid bifurcation plaque was vulnerable plaque,and they were divided into vulnerable plaque group(69 cases)and stable plaque group(35 cases).The difference of carotid bifurcation geometry of various groups was investigated,and the influence of common traditional risk factors to obtain independent risk factors was adjusted.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn.Results Among 104 carotid artery,vulnerable plaque group had larger bifurcation angle(54.00 vs 48.80,P＜0.001),less luminal expansion(1.76 vs 1.94,P=0.002)and less outflow/inflow area ratio(0.79 vs 0.88,P＜0.001)compared with stable plaque group.After adjusting,binary logistic regres-sion indicated that bifurcation angle[odds ratio(OR)1.132 per 10° increase;95％confidence interval(CI)1.044-1.225],luminal expan-sion(OR 0.084 per 1 increase;95％CI 0.014-0.492)and outflow/inflow area ratio(OR 0.357 per 0.01 increase;95％CI 0.177-0.723)were independent risk factors of vulnerable plaque formation.Bringing them into the final model,the area under the curve(AUC)was 0.878 above the basic model(AUC=0.664).Conclusion Bifur-cation angle,luminal expansion and outflow/inflow area ratio are independently associated with vulnerable plaque formation.Carotid bifurcation geometry have the certain predictive efficiency of vulnerable plaque formation and have the incremental diagnostic value to traditional risk factors,which are expected to be effective imaging makers for the formation of vulnerable plaque.

Objective To evaluate a noninvasive vessel encoded imaging for selective mapping of the flow territories of the left and right internal carotid arteries and vertebral-basilar arteries. Methods Seven volunteers [(33.5±4.1) years ; 3 men, 4 women] and 6 patients [(55.2 ± 3.2) years; 2 men,4women] were given written informed consent approved by the institutional review board before participating in the study. A pseudo-continuous tagging pulse train is modified to encode all vessels of interest. The selectivity of this method was demonstrated. Regional perfusion imaging was developed on the same arterial spin labeling sequence. Perfusion-weighted images of the selectively labeled cerebral arteries were obtained by subtraction of the labeled from control images. The CBF values of hemisphere, white matter, and gray matter of volunteers were calculated. The vessel territories on patients were compared with DSA. The low perfusion areas were compared with high signal areas on T2-FLAIR. Results High SNR maps of left carotid, right carotid, and basilar territories were generated in 8 minutes of scan time. Cerebral blood flow 100 g-1 were in agreement with data in the literature. Vessel encoded imaging in patients had a good agreement with DSA. The low perfusion areas were larger than high signal areas on T2-FLAIR. Conclusion We present a new method capable of evaluating both quantitatively and qualitatively the individual brain-feeding arteries in vivo.