[Objective] To explore the correlation between the 5-factor modified frailty index (mFI-5) and acute kidney injury (AKI) after laparoscopic radical nephrectomy in elderly patients with renal cancer, so as to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of postoperative AKI. [Methods] A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 214 elderly patients (≥60 years) who underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy at our hospital during Dec.2018 and Dec.2021.Patients were divided into frail group (n=75, mFI-5≥2) and non-frail group (n=139, mFI-5<2). The incidence of AKI and sub items of mFI-5 were compared between the two groups.According to the occurrence of AKI, patients were divided into AKI group (n=77) and non-AKI group (n=137). Univariate and multivariate logistic analyses were conducted to identify risk factors of AKI.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to test the effectiveness of mFI-5 in predicting AKI. [Results] The incidence of AKI was significantly higher in the frail group than in the non-frail group (64.00% vs. 20.86%, P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the incidence of AKI was related to gender, diabetes, hypertension, nonfunctional independent status, weakness and split kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that male (OR=2.454, 95%CI: 1.193—5.047), complicated weakness (OR=6.580, 95%CI: 3.380—12.811), and low split kidney GFR (OR=0.945, 95%CI: 0.911—0.980) were independent risk factors of AKI (P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve of AKI predicted by mFI-5 was 0.711. [Conclusion] Preoperative mFI-5 score is an effective predictor of AKI in elderly patients undergoing laparoscopic radical nephrectomy.As patients with frailty have a higher risk of AKI, preoperative evaluation and monitoring should be strengthened and timely intervention should be taken to improve the prognosis.

Objective To explore the expression and clinical significance of lysine oxidase (Lox) in primary lesion of esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) and bone metastasis lesion based on bioinformatics. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases were used to screen for differentially expressed genes between ESCA and normal esophageal tissues. Follow-up information of patients with surgery for esophageal cancer in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2016 to December 2020 were screened, and the clinical materials of patients diagnosed as bone metastasis during the follow-up period were collected. Western blot was used to verify the expression of Lox in ESCA and normal esophageal tissues; immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of Lox in human ESCA tissue and normal tissue; the impact of Lox expression on survival was explored by Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression. Results Through the analysis of ESCA data in GEPIA and TCGA databases, it was found that the expression of Lox in ESCA lesions was significantly higher than that in normal tissues (P<0.05); the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses found that Lox may be involved in the information conduction of various signaling pathways; the Western blot result showed that the expression of Lox in cancer tissue was higher than that in adjacent normal tissue (P<0.05); the analysis of follow-up data found that patients with high expression of Lox were more likely to have multiple bone metastases; survival analysis revealed that patients with high Lox expression had significantly shorter bone metastasis free survival and overall survival compared to patients with low Lox expression (P<0.05); Cox regression found that Lox was an independent risk factor for prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer bone metastasis. Conclusion Lox is highly expressed in ESCA and significantly related to clinical prognosis, which can be used as an effective target for the diagnosis and treatment of ESCA.

Objective To observe the effects of moxibustion on the expression of Nucleotide binding oligomeric domain like receptor thermoprotein domain associated protein 3(Nod-like receptor protein 3,NLRP3)inflammasome and Cysteine aspartate protease 12(Caspase-12)in synovial tissue of experimental Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA)rabbits,and explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of moxibustion on RA rabbits.Methods Twenty-four Japanese big-eared white rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups according to body weight and sex:the control group,the model group and the moxibustion group.The Freund's Complete Adjuvant(FCA)was injected into the joint cavities of two knee joints of rabbits at the dose of 0.5 mL·kg-1 in the model group and the moxibustion group,and the control group was injected with the same amount of normal saline as control.For the moxibustion group,scar free moxibustion was operated at bilateral"BL 23"and"ST 36"acupoints,moxibustion for 3 times per acupoint per day,continuous treatment for 6 days,rest for 1 day,as a course of treatment,a total of 3 courses of treatment.The histological changes of synovium samples of rabbit knee joints were observed under light microscope,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)was used to detect the expression of NLRP3,Cysteine aspartate protease 1(Caspase-1),Caspase-12 in synovial tissues and Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay(ELISA)was used to measure the change of Interleukin-1β(IL-1β)content in the synovial fluid of experimental animals.Results Compared with the control group,the degree of synovial lesions(inflammatory cell infiltration,synovial tissue hyperplasia,fibrous tissue hyperplasia,macrophage hyperplasia,etc.)and pathological score were increased(P<0.05),the expression of NLRP3,Caspase-1 mRNA were increased(P<0.05),the expression of Caspase-12 mRNA was significantly downregulated(P<0.01)and the expression content of IL-1β was significantly up-regulated(P<0.01)in the model group;Compared with the model group,the synovial lesion degree and pathological score were decreased(P<0.05),the expression of NLRP3,Caspase-1 mRNA were decreased(P<0.05),the expression of Caspase-12 mRNA was significantly increased(P<0.01)and the expression of IL-1β was decreased(P<0.05)in the moxibustion group.Conclusion Moxibustion can significantly inhibit the pathological process of knee synovitis in RA rabbits;Moxibustion at"Shenshu(BL 23)"and"Zusanli(ST 36)"acupoints can significantly up-regulate the expression of Caspase-12 and then inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome,which may be one of mechanisms of moxibustion to reduce RA inflammatory response.

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases characterized by trauma-induced mucocutaneous fragility and blister formation. Here, we investigated five Chinese families with EB, and eight variants including a novel nonsense variant (c.47G>A, p.W16*) in LAMA3, a known recurrent variant (c.74C>T, p.P25L) in KRT5, 2 novel (c.2531T>A, p.V844E; c.6811_6814del, p.R2271fs) and 4 known (c.6187C>T, p.R2063W; c.7097G>A, p.G2366D; c.8569G>T, p.E2857*; c.3625_3635del, p.S1209fs) variants in COL7A1 were detected. Notably, this study identified a nonsense variant in LAMA3 that causes EB within the Chinese population and revealed that this variant resulted in a reduction in LAMA3 mRNA and protein expression levels by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Our study expands the mutation spectra of Chinese patients with EB.
Humans ; Asian People/genetics* ; China ; Collagen Type VII/genetics* ; Epidermolysis Bullosa/genetics* ; Epidermolysis Bullosa Dystrophica/genetics* ; Keratin-5/genetics* ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Laminin/genetics*

Objective: Network pharmacology combines drug and disease targets with biological information networks based on the integrity and systematicness of the interactions between drugs and disease targets. This study aims to explore the molecular basis of Hanshi Zufei formula for treatment of COVID-19 based on network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Methods: Using TCMSP, the chemical constituents and molecular targets of Atractylodis Rhizoma, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex, Pogostemonis Herba, Tsaoko Fructus, Ephedrae Herba, Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix, Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, and Arecae Semen were investigated. The predicted targets of novel coronavirus were screened using the NCBI and GeneCards databases. To further screen the drug-disease core targets network, the corresponding target proteins were queried using multiple databases (Biogrid, DIP, and HPRD), a protein interaction network graph was constructed, and the network topology was analyzed. The molecular docking studies were also performed between the network's top 15 compounds and the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) 3CL hydrolytic enzyme and angiotensin conversion enzyme II (ACE2). Results: The herb-active ingredient-target network contained nine drugs, 86 compounds, and 49 drug-disease targets. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis resulted in 1566 GO items (P < 0.05), among which 1438 were biological process items, 35 were cell composition items, and 93 were molecular function items. Fourteen signal pathways were obtained by enrichment screening of the KEGG pathway database (P < 0.05). The molecular docking results showed that the affinity of the core active compounds with the SARS-CoV-2 3CL hydrolase was better than for the other compounds. Conclusion: Several core compounds can regulate multiple signaling pathways by binding with 3CL hydrolase and ACE2, which might contribute to the treatment of COVID-19.

Objective:To evaluate the analytical sensitivity of twenty-eight respiratory pathogen nucleic acid detection kits based on different types of human adenovirus.Methods:According to the EP17-A2 document of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, probit regression analysis of 95% hit rates was performed to evaluate the limit of detection (Lod) of 28 respiratory pathogen nucleic acid detection kits. The differences between claimed Lod and measured Lod, and between different adenovirus types were compared.Results:The data showed that the claimed Lod for 50% (12/24) of the manufacturers can be accurately evaluated. There was a poor consistency in 12 kits, and the difference in 4 kits was not significant (measured Lod<5×claimed Lod), however, the difference in the other 8 kits was significant (measured Lod>5×claimed Lod, 24 000-fold increase for the most significant). The difference of measured Lod concentration between different kits was more than 10 6 orders of magnitude (the lowest and the highest were 20 copies/ml and 4.8×10 7copies/ml, respectively). An analysis of different types of adenovirus detected by the same kit revealed a wide range of measured Lod, spanning 10 4 orders of magnitude differences (the lowest and the highest were 5.0×10 3copies/ml and 4.8×10 7copies/ml, respectively). Conclusions:It is showed that there is a lack of accuracy in evaluation of the analytical sensitivity for some respiratory pathogen nucleic acid detection kits, so it is particularly necessary to use a variety of pathogen types or subtypes for performance evaluation.

Objective:To evaluate the analytical sensitivity of nine rapid influenza virus antigen diagnostic tests (RIDTs).Methods:Human seasonal influenza viruses were collected and amplified. Gene sequencing was performed and TCID 50 were tested. Evaluation of nine RIDTs for the analytical sensitivity was performed after the subsequent dilution of human seasonal influenza A H3N2, H1N1, and influenza B viruses. Results:RIDTs offers lower sensitivity than the nucleic acid amplification test. RIDTs overall had different analytical sensitivity based on the detection of the same isolate, and the difference between result was more than 10 1 TCID 50/ml. Each RIDT had variable levels of positivity with different influenza subtypes/lineages. Conclusions:The study demonstrated that the analytical sensitivity of RIDTs varies.

As the "gold standard" for clinical diagnosis of viral infection of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), nucleic acid testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) takes the heavy responsibilities in the early stage of the outbreak. The speed of response to the development, the scale of production, the convenience and reliability of clinical application, the accuracy and sensitivity of the nucleic acid testing for SARS-CoV-2 all affect the deployment and decision-making of epidemic prevention and control to varying degrees. This paper systematically investigates 138 new coronavirus nucleic acid testing reagents authorized by regulatory authorities of China and the United States, respectively, at this stage, analyzes the technical principle, degree of automation and analytical performance, and looks forward to the future development of the field of viral nucleic acid testing.

In the past ten years, the research and application of microbiome has continued to increase. The microbiome has gradually become the research focus in the fields of life science, environmental science, and medicine. Meanwhile, many countries and organizations around the world are launching their own microbiome projects and conducting a multi-faceted layout, striving to gain a strategic position in this promising field. In addition, whether it is scientific research or industrial applications, there has been a climax of research and a wave of investment and financing, accordingly, products and services related to the microbiome are constantly emerging. However, due to the rapid development of microbiome sequencing and analysis related technologies and methods, the research and application from various countries have not yet unified on the standards of technology, programs, and data. Domestic industry participants also have insufficient understanding of the microbiome. New methods, technologies, and theories have not yet been fully accepted and used. In addition, some of the existing standards and guidelines are too general with poor practicality. This not only causes obstacles in the integration of scientific research data and waste of resources, but also gives related companies unfair competition opportunity. More importantly, China still lacks national standards related to the microbiome, and the national microbiome project is still in the process of preparation. In this context, the experts and practitioners of the microbiome worked together and developed the consensus of experts. It can not only guide domestic scientific research and industrial institutions to regulate the production, learning and research of the microbiome, the application can also provide reference technical basis for the relevant national functional departments, protect the scale and standardized corporate company's interests, strengthen industry self-discipline, avoid unregulated enterprises from disrupting the market, and ultimately promote the benign development of microbiome-related industries.
China ; Consensus ; Humans ; Industry ; Microbiota

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) could be used for pathogen detection from nearly all types of clinical samples. Especially, the unique diagnostic capability of pathogen mNGS detecting unknown causative agent of infectious diseases makes this method become an importation complement and irreplaceable component for conventional routine laboratory test. However, the complexity of the testing process, the rapid product update, and the insufficiency in quality control and evaluation methods that all make clinical transformation, industry development, and regulation of this technology full of challenge and uncertainty. This review briefly introduces the technical advantages and challenges, and describes the general workflow and quality control steps in details. Finally, it focuses on current considerations regarding quality evaluation methods and standards for pathogen mNGS.
Communicable Diseases ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Metagenome ; Metagenomics ; Quality Control