AIM To evaluate the quality of Gegen Formula Granules.METHODS Linear calibration with two reference substances(LCTRS)was adopted in the predicting of retention time with puerarin and daidzein as internal standards.UPLC characteristic chromatograms were established.The contents of 3'-hydroxy puerarin,puerarin(internal standard),3'-methoxy puerarin,puerarin 6"-O-xyloside,puerarin apioside and daidzin were determined by quantitative determination analysis multi-components by a single marker(QAMS),after which their transfer rates were calculated.RESULTS Compared with relative retention time method,LCTRS demonstrated higher positional accuracy for characteristic peaks and wider application range for columns.There were 9 characteristic peaks in the characteristic chromatograms for 14 batches of formula granules and 15 batches of standard decoctions with the similarities of more than 0.95.The contents and transfer rates of various constituents in formula granules and standard decoctions were basically consistent.CONCLUSION The chemical constituents in formula granules and their standard decoctions of Puerariae lobatae Radix display good consistency,reliable preparation process is observable in the former.

Objective:To explore the prognostic value of serum free light chain in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.Methods:Retrospective cohort study was conducted. One hundred and fifty-six newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia(CLL) patients in the first affiliated hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2016 to December 2020 were included in the retrospective analysis. Among them, there were 106 males and 50 females, with a median age of 60.7 (53.4, 66.0) years old.Serum sample was collected, serum free light chains were detected, and patients were divided into a treatment group (106 cases) and a follow-up group (50 cases) based on the presence of treatment indications.The threshold of serum free light chain(sFLC) was defined by the reference range of the instruction manual and ROC curve. Three indicators were used, including sFLCR, sFLC(κ+λ) and sFLC(κ-λ). Patients were divided into normal sFLCR group ( n=61)and abnormal group( n=95), as well as sFLC (κ+λ) low value group ( n=88) and high value group ( n=68), and sFLC (κ-λ) low value group ( n=64) and high value group ( n=92).The abnormal group and high value group were enrolled as the experimental group, while the normal group and low value group were enrolled as control group. Chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were used to compare the clinical data, cytogenetics, and molecular biology characteristics of patients in two groups, Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the median treatment-free survival (TFS) of the patients, and Cox regression was used to screen the prognostic factors of the patients. Results:The proportion of Rai stage Ⅰ-Ⅳ ( χ2=8.16, P<0.05 and χ2=7.63, P<0.05 and χ2=5.45, P<0.05), Binet stage B-C( χ2=4.11, P<0.05 and χ2=9.43, P<0.05 and χ2=7.34, P<0.05), β 2-microglobulin>3.5 mg/L( χ2=5.13, P<0.05 and χ2=18.3, P<0.05 and χ2=12, P<0.05), ATM gene mutation rate( χ2=6.21, P<0.05 and χ2=4.88, P<0.05 and χ2=5.19, P<0.05), and immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV) mutation free rate ( χ2=18.9, P<0.05 and χ2=24.6, P<0.05 and χ2=10.4, P<0.05)in the experimental group were significantly higher than that in control group 1 ( P<0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that sFLC(κ+λ) ( HR=1.615,95% CI 1.012-2.576, P=0.044), β 2-microglobulin>3.5 mg/L( HR=2.103,95% CI 1.356-3.262, P=0.001) and TP53 deletion and/or mutation( HR=1.892,95% CI 1.082-3.308, P=0.025) were independent prognostic factors affecting the patients time to first treatment(TFT). Conclusions:Serum free light chains can predict the risk of early treatment and have good prognostic significance in newly diagnosed CLL patients.

AIM To evaluate the quality of Gegen Formula Granules.METHODS Linear calibration with two reference substances(LCTRS)was adopted in the predicting of retention time with puerarin and daidzein as internal standards.UPLC characteristic chromatograms were established.The contents of 3'-hydroxy puerarin,puerarin(internal standard),3'-methoxy puerarin,puerarin 6"-O-xyloside,puerarin apioside and daidzin were determined by quantitative determination analysis multi-components by a single marker(QAMS),after which their transfer rates were calculated.RESULTS Compared with relative retention time method,LCTRS demonstrated higher positional accuracy for characteristic peaks and wider application range for columns.There were 9 characteristic peaks in the characteristic chromatograms for 14 batches of formula granules and 15 batches of standard decoctions with the similarities of more than 0.95.The contents and transfer rates of various constituents in formula granules and standard decoctions were basically consistent.CONCLUSION The chemical constituents in formula granules and their standard decoctions of Puerariae lobatae Radix display good consistency,reliable preparation process is observable in the former.

Objective:To explore the prognostic value of serum free light chain in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.Methods:Retrospective cohort study was conducted. One hundred and fifty-six newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia(CLL) patients in the first affiliated hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2016 to December 2020 were included in the retrospective analysis. Among them, there were 106 males and 50 females, with a median age of 60.7 (53.4, 66.0) years old.Serum sample was collected, serum free light chains were detected, and patients were divided into a treatment group (106 cases) and a follow-up group (50 cases) based on the presence of treatment indications.The threshold of serum free light chain(sFLC) was defined by the reference range of the instruction manual and ROC curve. Three indicators were used, including sFLCR, sFLC(κ+λ) and sFLC(κ-λ). Patients were divided into normal sFLCR group ( n=61)and abnormal group( n=95), as well as sFLC (κ+λ) low value group ( n=88) and high value group ( n=68), and sFLC (κ-λ) low value group ( n=64) and high value group ( n=92).The abnormal group and high value group were enrolled as the experimental group, while the normal group and low value group were enrolled as control group. Chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were used to compare the clinical data, cytogenetics, and molecular biology characteristics of patients in two groups, Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the median treatment-free survival (TFS) of the patients, and Cox regression was used to screen the prognostic factors of the patients. Results:The proportion of Rai stage Ⅰ-Ⅳ ( χ2=8.16, P<0.05 and χ2=7.63, P<0.05 and χ2=5.45, P<0.05), Binet stage B-C( χ2=4.11, P<0.05 and χ2=9.43, P<0.05 and χ2=7.34, P<0.05), β 2-microglobulin>3.5 mg/L( χ2=5.13, P<0.05 and χ2=18.3, P<0.05 and χ2=12, P<0.05), ATM gene mutation rate( χ2=6.21, P<0.05 and χ2=4.88, P<0.05 and χ2=5.19, P<0.05), and immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV) mutation free rate ( χ2=18.9, P<0.05 and χ2=24.6, P<0.05 and χ2=10.4, P<0.05)in the experimental group were significantly higher than that in control group 1 ( P<0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that sFLC(κ+λ) ( HR=1.615,95% CI 1.012-2.576, P=0.044), β 2-microglobulin>3.5 mg/L( HR=2.103,95% CI 1.356-3.262, P=0.001) and TP53 deletion and/or mutation( HR=1.892,95% CI 1.082-3.308, P=0.025) were independent prognostic factors affecting the patients time to first treatment(TFT). Conclusions:Serum free light chains can predict the risk of early treatment and have good prognostic significance in newly diagnosed CLL patients.

Objective:To explore the application value of simultaneous monitoring of voriconazole(VRCZ)and voriconazole N-oxide(VNO)in efficacy and safety of VRCZ in the prevention and treatment of fungal infections in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)patients before engraftment(i.e.,days+1 to+30 after transplantation).Methods:The influencing factors of VRCZ,VNO concentration and MR(CVNO/CVRCz)and the difference of VRCZ in the prevention and treatment of fungal infection and liver and kidney injury were analyzed.The receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)was used to analyze the differences(the corresponding to the maximum of the Youden index on the curve was set as the cut-off value)to confirm the critical value.Results:The factors affecting VRCZ concentration(CVRCZ),VNO concentration(CVNO)and MR were patient weight,VRCZ daily dose,and transplantation type(all P＜0.05).CVRCZ and CVNO in the effective group were higher than those in the ineffective group(P＜0.001),the opposite of MR(P＜0.001);the liver and renal injury group had lower MR than the normal group(P＜0.05).ROC showed that CVRCZ,CVNO and MR had important value in predicting VRCZ in the prevention and treatment of invasive fungal infections in allo-HSCT patients before engraftment,and their cutoff of concentrations were 0.95 μg/ml,1.35 μg/ml and 1.645,respectively(AUC:0.9677,0.7634,0.9564).CVRCZ and MR can assist in indicating liver[cutoff values:0.65 μg/ml,1.96(AUC:0.5971,0.6663)]and renal injury[cutoff values:0.95 μg/ml,1.705(AUC:0.6039,0.6164)].Conclusion:The great value of simultaneous monitoring of VRCZ,VNO and MR can predict in the efficacy and safety of VRCZ in allo-HSCT patients before engraftment.The prediction accuracy of CVRCZ was higher than that of MR,followed by that of CVNO.Increased CVRCZ and decreased MR increase the risk of liver and kidney injury.

Tamoxifen(TAM)has been widely used for the treatment of ER+breast cancer.However,the inevitable emergence of resistance to tamoxifen obstructs the successful treatment of this cancer.The tumor suppressor gene N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2(NDRG2)plays a significant role in the de-velopment of ER+breast cancer.However,it is unclear whether NDRG2 participates in mediating TAM resistance in ER+breast cancer.Here,we investigate the expression of NDRG2 mRNA and protein in TAM-sensitive and TAM-resistant ER+breast cancer cells.The results of immunoblotting experiments re-vealed a negative correlation between NDRG2 expression and TAM resistance ability in ER+breast cancer cells(P＜0.001).CCK-8 cell viability assays and soft agar colony formation assays showed that NDRG2 overexpression in TAM resistant cells significantly reduced the TAM IC50 value and the soft agar colony formation rate(P＜0.001).For the mechanism,the ERAD reporter protein assays showed that NDRG2 overexpression upregulated the expression of the ERAD reporter protein CD3ε-YFP and increased the lev-els of spliced XBP1s mRNA,leading to severe endoplasmic reticulum stress in TAM resistant cells(P＜0.001).Immunoblot analysis confirmed that overexpression of NDRG2 significantly increased the level of phosphorylation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor IRE 1α and the expression levels of its down-stream protein factors,including ERdj4,P58IPK,EDEM and PDIA5(P＜0.001).The in vivo xenograft tumor experiments in mice further verified that NDRG2 overexpression significantly inhibited the growth of resistant tumors,which enhanced the therapeutic effect of TAM(P＜0.001).These findings indicate that increasing NDRG2 expression and triggering severe endoplasmic reticulum stress upon TAM treatment can reverse the resistance of ER+breast cancer cells to TAM and inhibits the growth of ER+breast canc-er tumors.Our results provide valuable new insights and potential targets for improving the clinical man-agement of TAM-resistance and prognosis in ER+breast cancer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of overexpressing 70-kD heat shock pro-teins(Hsp70)on glycolysis in C2C12 cells during myogenesis and adipogenesis.Using C2C12 cells as the research material,adenovirus was used to overexpress the Hsp70 gene,and changes in the expression of glycolytic genes were detected using fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting techniques.The study indicated that during C2C12 cell myogenic differentiation,the expression trend of the Hsp70 gene was consistent with that of Gsk3β,Pkm,Prkag3,Pfkm,and Hk-2 genes,suggesting a relationship between Hsp70 and the glycolytic pathway during myogenic differentiation.Overexpression of Hsp70 in the later stages of myogenic differentiation significantly upregulated the expression of Gsk3β,Pkm,Prk-ag3,and Pfkm genes(P＜0.05),with no significant impact on Hk-2 gene expression(P＞0.05).Dur-ing C2C12 cell adipogenic induction,the expression trend of the Hsp70 gene was similar to that of Gsk3β,Pkm,Prkag3,Pfkm,and Hk-2 genes,indicating a relationship between Hsp70 and the glycolytic path-way during adipogenic induction.Following Hsp70 overexpression,in the later stages of adipogenic in-duction,the number of lipid droplets was significantly higher compared to the control group,with a sig-nificant upregulation of Gsk3β,Pkm,Prkag3,and Pfkm gene expression(P＜0.05),while Hk-2 gene expression was not significantly affected(P＞0.05).In conclusion,Hsp70 in C2C12 cells in myogenic and adipogenic states promoted the breakdown of glycogen into 6-phospho-glucose,thereby enhancing the glycolytic pathway,providing insights into the functional role of the Hsp70 gene in glycolysis in C2C12 cells.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of the Xingnao Kaiqiao (regaining consciousness and opening orifices) acupuncture on hemorrhagic transformation and limb motor function after intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in stroke patients. METHODS: A total of 130 stroke patients after rt-PA thrombolytic were divided into an acupuncture group (58 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a non-acupuncture group (72 cases, 7 cases dropped off) according to whether they received acupuncture treatment. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match each group, with 38 patients in each group. The patients in the non-acupuncture group received rt-PA thrombolytic therapy and western medical basic treatment. In addition to the basic treatment, the patients in the acupuncture group received Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture at Shuigou (GV 26), bilateral Neiguan (PC 6), and ipsilateral Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Chize (LU 5), once a day for 14 days. The incidence of hemorrhagic transformation within 30 days after onset was compared between the two groups. The Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) score and activities of daily living (ADL) score were observed at baseline and 30 days, 6 months, 1 year after onset in the two groups. The disability rate at 6 months and 1 year after onset was recorded, and safety was evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: The incidence of hemorrhagic transformation in the acupuncture group was 5.3% (2/38), which was lower than 21.1% (8/38) in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.05). At 30 days, 6 month, and 1 year after onset, the FMA and ADL scores of both groups were higher than those at baseline (P<0.01), and the scores in the acupuncture group were higher than those in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.01). The disability rate in the acupuncture group at 1 year after onset was 10.5% (4/38), which was lower than 28.9% (11/38) in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION The Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture method could reduce the incidence of hemorrhagic transformation in stroke patients after intravenous thrombolysis with rt-PA, improve their motor function and daily living ability, and reduce the long-term disability rate.
Humans ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator/adverse effects* ; Activities of Daily Living ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Thrombolytic Therapy/adverse effects*

Objective:To investigate the outcome of using long head of biceps tendon (LHBT) transposition to augment arthroscopic massive rotator cuff repair.Methods:A retrospective case series study was performed on 22 patients with massive rotator cuff tear treated in Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University from June 2019 through July 2020, including 12 males and 10 females, aged 54-79 years [(63.9±6.8)years]. LHBT transposition was performed to augment arthroscopic repair of massive rotator cuff tear. The active range of motion (forward flexion, abduction, external rotation), visual analog scale (VAS), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) score and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score were compared preoperatively and at 3 months and 12 months postoperatively. The cuff integrity was evaluated using MRI following Sugaya classification at 12 months postoperatively. LHBT dislocation or distal retraction was recorded at the last follow-up.Results:All patients were followed up for 12-24 months [(17.0±3.8)months]. The postoperative 3-month active forward flexion [162.5(160.0, 170.0)°] and abduction [170.0(160.0, 170.0)°] were improved compared with preoperative measurements [90.0(73.8, 120.0)°,85.0(70.0, 112.5)°](all P<0.05). However, no statistically significant difference was found between the preoperative and postoperative 3-month external rotation [50.0(37.5,60.0)° vs. 60.0(48.8,70.0)°] ( P>0.05). The postoperative 12-month active forward flexion, abduction and external rotation were 170.0(160.0, 175.0)°, 170.0(170.0, 177.8)° and 60.0(48.8, 70.0)°, showing no significant improvement from those at 3 months postoperatively (all P>0.05). The postoperative 3-month VAS [1.0(0.8, 2.0)points], UCLA score [23.0(23.0, 25.0)points] and ASES score [79.1(72.9, 83.3)points] were improved significantly compared with preoperative measurements [7.0(8.0, 9.0)points, 9.0(10.0, 14.0)points, 25.0(16.6, 31.6)points] (all P<0.05). The postoperative 12-month UCLA score [33.0(31.0, 35.0)points] and ASES score [91.6(86.6, 93.3)points] were further improved compared with those at 3 months postoperatively (all P<0.05). However, the postoperative 12-month VAS [0.0 (0.0, 1.0)points] showed no statistically significant difference with that at 3 months postoperatively ( P>0.05). The UCLA score was excellent in 6 patients and good in 16 at 12 months postoperatively.MRI revealed healed tendons with continuity in 16 patients, with the healing rate of 72.7%, and partially retears with good shoulder function in 6 patients, with the retearing rate of 17.3%. No LHBT dislocation or distal retraction was found at 12 months postoperatively in regardless of mild anterior shoulder pain in 2 patients. Conclusion:Using LHBT transposition to augment arthroscopic massive rotator cuff repair has yielded excellent shoulder range of motion, shoulder function recovery, pain relief and high tendon healing rate with rare postoperative complication.