OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic etiology of 46 Chinese pedigrees affected with Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) and provide genetic counseling and reproductive intervention. METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were carried out on 87 patients from the 46 pedigrees to analyze the variants of EXT1 and EXT2 genes. Pathogenicity of the variants was assessed based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP). Prenatal diagnosis and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) were provided for couples with identified pathogenic mutations. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the hospital (Ethics No.: LL-SC-SG-2014-010). RESULTS: In total 17 and 22 pathogenic variants were respectively identified in the EXT1 and EXT2 genes, among which 5 EXT1 and 12 EXT2 variants were unreported previously. Three patients with no family history were found to harbor de novo variants of the EXT1 gene. Twenty nine couples had opted for PGT or underwent prenatal diagnosis following natural conception, and 17 healthy babies were born. CONCLUSION This study has clarified the genetic etiology of 45 HME pedigrees and identified 17 novel variants, which has enriched the mutational spectrum of the EXT1 and EXT2 genes. Reproductive intervention through PGT and prenatal diagnosis have prevented the recurrence of HME in these families.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Pedigree ; Exostoses, Multiple Hereditary/diagnosis* ; N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases/genetics* ; Adult ; Exostosin 1 ; Asian People/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; Exostosin 2 ; Mutation ; China ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Pregnancy ; Genetic Counseling ; Preimplantation Diagnosis ; Exome Sequencing ; East Asian People

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion leads to white matter injury (WMI), which plays a significant role in contributing to vascular cognitive impairment. While 13-docosenamide is a type of fatty acid amide, it remains unclear whether it has therapeutic effects on chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. In this study, we conducted bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCAS) surgery to simulate chronic cerebral hypoperfusion-induced WMI and cognitive impairment. Our findings showed that 13-docosenamide alleviates WMI and cognitive impairment in BCAS mice. Mechanistically, 13-docosenamide specifically binds to cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) in oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). This interaction results in an upregulation of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 33 (USP33)-mediated CNR1 deubiquitination, subsequently increasing CNR1 protein expression, activating the phosphorylation of the AKT/mTOR pathway, and promoting the differentiation of OPCs. In conclusion, our study suggests that 13-docosenamide can ameliorate chronic cerebral hypoperfusion-induced WMI and cognitive impairment by enhancing OPC differentiation and could serve as a potential therapeutic drug.
Animals ; Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells/metabolism* ; Mice ; Cell Differentiation/drug effects* ; Male ; Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Ubiquitin Thiolesterase/metabolism* ; Ubiquitination/drug effects* ; Carotid Stenosis/complications* ; Cognitive Dysfunction/drug therapy*

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of toric implantable collamer lens (Toric-ICL) and femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) for myopia correction in patients with moderate to high myopia complicated with astigmatism. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from 64 patients (aged 18-42 years) with moderate to high myopia complicated with astigmatism (128 eyes) undergoing either Toric-ICL (28 patients/56 eyes) or FS-LASIK (36 patients/72 eyes) at our department between January, 2019 and December, 2020. The changes of uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCVA), spherical equivalent (SE), mean astigmatism correction index (CI), corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) and intraocular pressure (IOP) following the procedures were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: In FS-LASIK group, all the eyes (72/72) achieved an UCVA≥1.0, similar to the rate in Toric-ICL group (55/56 eyes; P=0.2374). The postoperative SE was also comparable between FS-LASIK and Toric-ICL groups [0.43±0.06 D (range: -1.0 to 1.50 D) vs 0.38±0.05 D (range: -0.75 to 1.00 D); P=0.56]. The mean astigmatism CI was significantly higher in FS-LASIK group than in Toric-ICL group (0.8561 vs 0.7176; P<0.0001), and 88.89% of the eyes in FS-LASIK group and 69.64% in Toric-ICL group had postoperative astigmatism ≤0.50 D. No significant changes were observed in postoperative corneal ECD in FS-LASIK group, whereas ECD decreased significantly after the procedure in Toric-ICL group (P=0.0057). The patients undergoing Toric-ICL exhibited no significant changes of postoperative IOP, but the patients receiving FS-LASIK had significantly reduced IOP after the procedure (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Although the patients included in Toric-ICL group had higher myopia and astigmatism, Toric-ICL still showed better predictability and efficacy for astigmatic correction in Toric-ICL group. Toric-ICL is an effective and safe equivalent of FS-LASIK for correcting moderate myopia but can be more advantageous for correcting high myopia with astigmatism.
Humans ; Astigmatism/complications* ; Myopia/complications* ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Adult ; Visual Acuity ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Treatment Outcome ; Male ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular/methods* ; Female ; Phakic Intraocular Lenses ; Intraocular Pressure

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of benzyl isothiocyanate(BITC) in the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer(ATC).Methods:Using network pharmacological analysis, key targets of BITC and ATC were screened, followed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. In order to validate the findings, AutoDock software was used to dock BITC and ATC key targets. BITC was applied to two ATC cell lines(8505C and CAL-62). Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell apoptosis. Autophagy inhibitors hydroxychloroquine sulfate(HCQ) and 3-methyladenine(3MA) were used in combination with BITC. Real-time quantitative PCR was conducted to detect the gene level of LC3B, while Western blotting was utilized to examine the expression of NF-κB, LC3B Ⅱ, Beclin-1, and Bcl-2. In animal experiments, a mouse tumor model was constructed using CAL-62 cells, treated with intraperitoneal injections of BITC(100 mg/kg) and normal saline respectively, administered every other day for a total of 21 days. Immunoblotting of tumor tissue was performed to detect the expression of LC3B Ⅱ, Bcl-2, Beclin-1, and NF-κB.Results:A total of 10 key targets with binding energies≤-4.0 kcal/mol were identified. KEGG analysis showed that these genes are mainly involved in NF-κB signaling pathway and apoptosis. BITC inhibited ATC cells with IC50 values of 27.56 μmol/L for 8505C and 28.30 μmol/L for CAL-62. The expression levels of NF-κB, Beclin-1, and Bcl-2 decreased, while LC3B Ⅱ and LC3B gene expression increased. Combining 3MA with BITC enhanced cell inhibition LC3B Ⅱ expression. HCQ increased LC3B Ⅱ expression without enhancing cell and viability inhibition. In the mouse tumor model, compared to the control group, the treatment group had higher LC3B Ⅱ and lower Bcl-2, Beclin-1, and NF-κB levels.Conclusion:BITC could inhibit the growth of ATC cells in vitro and in vivo, disrupt the autophagy degradation, and inhibit the NF-κB pathway.

Objective:To utilize routinely available clinical parameters to uncover the clinical features of different clusters in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyp (CRSwNP) through unsupervised clustering analysis.Methods:The clinical data from 155 CRSwNP patients undergoing nasal endoscopic surgery at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from 2021 to 2023 were prospectively collected, including 112 males and 43 females, aged from 7 to 87 years. Unsupervised clustering analysis was conducted using various clinical parameters, including age, gender, smoking and drinking history, local eosinophil (EOS) and neutrophil (NEU) counts, comorbid allergic rhinitis (AR), comorbid asthma, recurrence status, serum-specific IgE, total IgE, cytokine levels, peripheral blood EOS count and percentage, Lund-Mackay CT score, the ratio of CT scores for the maxillary sinus and ethmoid sinus (E/M ratio), visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Lund-Kennedy endoscopic score, and other common clinical indicators to elucidate the clinical characteristics of each cluster. Statistical analysis was conducted using GraphPad Prism 9.5 software.Results:Hierarchical clustering analysis identified four main clusters (Cluster A1-A4), showcasing distinct characteristics such as mild nasal polyps with higher peripheral blood cytokines levels, nasal polyps accompanied by allergies and asthma, a subtype of nasal polyps with high recurrence rates dominated by neutrophils, and nasal polyps with high eosinophil levels. Further subset clustering revealed two clusters of mild polyps (Cluster B1-B2) featuring high cytokine expression and comorbid AR; and two clusters of severe polyps (Cluster B3-B4) presented with severe symptoms, high Lund-Mackay CT score, and high Lund-Kennedy endoscopic score. Variations between Cluster B3 and B4 included symptom complexity, the degree of eosinophil infiltration, and the probability of comorbid asthma. Further clustering analysis for eosinophilic nasal polyps revealed a cluster characterized by highly neutrophilic infiltration and recurrent nasal polyps. The comprehensive analysis of multi-index correlations demonstrated valuable insights into the relationships between common clinical parameters of nasal polyps, providing valuable information for a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of CRSwNP.Conclusion:The clustering analysis in this study categorizes CRSwNP patients into different clusters based on clinical features and disease outcomes, providing a new perspective for more precise clinical treatment strategies.

【Objective】 To evaluate the clinical implications of ARL5B in esophageal cancer and its underlying mechanisms by using bioinformatics methods. 【Methods】 ARL5B transcriptomic expression data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), R software was employed to detect the differential expression mRNAs, and related clinical information was collected for survival analysis. To validate the bioinformatics results, Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were carried out for clinical specimens of esophageal cancer tumor tissues and adjacent tissues. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of ARL5B and its associated clinicopathologic features. The underlying mechanisms of ARL5B in esophageal cancer were preliminarily explored by bioinformatics and qRT-PCR. 【Results】 Bioinformatics method showed that the expression of ARL5B in human esophageal cancer tissues was significantly higher than in adjacent tissues and correlated with poor prognosis. Clinical specimens were detected, the expressions of ARL5B mRNA and protein were the highest in metastases lymph node, followed by esophageal cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, which corresponded with bioinformatics results. The expression of ARL5B was strongly correlated with lymph node metastases and advanced clinical stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis results denoted high ARL5B level, indicating poor prognosis. Enrichment analysis showed that ARL5B was associated the biological processes such as vacuolar transport, late endosome to lysosome transport, and organelle localization. Protein-protein interaction analysis (PPI) suggested that ARL5B might interact with VPS16, KIF1A and TOM1, whose expressions were verified by qRT-PCR and positively correlated with ARL5B expression. 【Conclusion】 ARL5B was highly expressed in esophageal cancer and associated with lymph node metastases, advanced clinical stage, and poor prognosis. ARL5B may be involved in the progression of esophageal cancer with several molecular mechanisms.

Objective:To carry out cytogenetic and molecular genetic analysis for two infertile patients carrying rare small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMC).Methods:Two infertile patients who received reproductive and genetic counseling at CITIC Xiangya Reproductive and Genetic Hospital on October 31, 2018 and May 10, 2021, respectively were selected as the study subjects. The origin of sSMCs was determined by conventional G banding, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq). Microdissection combined with high-throughput whole genome sequencing (MicroSeq) was carried out to determine the fragment size and genomic information of their sSMCs. Results:For patient 1, G-banded karyotyping and FISH revealed that he has a karyotype of mos47, XY, del(16)(p10p12), + mar[65]/46, XY, del(16)(p10p12)[6]/48, XY, del(16)(p10p12), + 2mar[3].ish mar(Tel 16p-, Tel 16q-, CEP 16-, WCP 16+ ). CNV analysis has yielded a result of arr[GRCh37]16p12.1p11.2(24999364_33597595)×1[0.25]. MicroSeq revealed that his sSMC has contained the region of chromosome 16 between 24979733 and 34023115 (GRCh37). For patient 2, karyotyping and reverse FISH revealed that she has a karyotype of mos 47, XX, + mar[37]/46, XX[23].rev ish CEN5, and CNV analysis has yielded a result of seq[GRCh37]dup(5)(p12q11.2)chr5: g(45120001_56000000)dup[0.8]. MicroSeq results revealed that her sSMC has contained the region of chromosome 5 between 45132364 and 55967870(GRCh37). After genetic counseling, both couples had opted in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). Conclusion:For individuals harboring sSMCs, it is vital to delineate the origin and structural characteristics of the sSMCs for their genetic counseling and reproductive guidance. Preimplantation genetic testing after microdissection combined with high-throughput whole genome sequencing (MicroSeq-PGT) can provide an alternative treatment for carrier couples with a high genetic risk.

Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is a widely recommended model of tumor diagnosis and treatment in modern medicine.Against the backdrop of the aging population,increasing cancer incidence rates,and the growing complexity of cancer cases in China.MDT has become a key focus in the innovative development of high-quality medical services in public hospitals.Leveraging its interdisciplinary collaboration advantages,MDT helps address the challenges presented by disease progression at various stages,thereby meeting the personalized,one-stop diagnos-tic and treatment needs of patients.It adopts a literature review approach and selects the United Kingdom as a repre-sentative case,given its early and extensive promotion of MDT at the national level and accumulated practical experi-ence.The aim is to review the development process,the organizational management,the pricing strategy,and pa-tient-centered cancer MDT practices in the UK.Building on this,a series of policy recommendations are proposed in light of the current status of cancer MDT operations in China.These recommendations include clarifying the content and implementation entities of cancer MDT services,refining MDT organizational management and quality assess-ment systems,exploring scientifically appropriate MDT pricing methods,piloting the patient agent system,ad-hering to the concept of"shared decision-making",so as to optimize the MDT system design from multi-dimen-sional perspectives to improve the quality of MDT services and benefit more patients.

Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is a widely recommended model of tumor diagnosis and treatment in modern medicine.Against the backdrop of the aging population,increasing cancer incidence rates,and the growing complexity of cancer cases in China.MDT has become a key focus in the innovative development of high-quality medical services in public hospitals.Leveraging its interdisciplinary collaboration advantages,MDT helps address the challenges presented by disease progression at various stages,thereby meeting the personalized,one-stop diagnos-tic and treatment needs of patients.It adopts a literature review approach and selects the United Kingdom as a repre-sentative case,given its early and extensive promotion of MDT at the national level and accumulated practical experi-ence.The aim is to review the development process,the organizational management,the pricing strategy,and pa-tient-centered cancer MDT practices in the UK.Building on this,a series of policy recommendations are proposed in light of the current status of cancer MDT operations in China.These recommendations include clarifying the content and implementation entities of cancer MDT services,refining MDT organizational management and quality assess-ment systems,exploring scientifically appropriate MDT pricing methods,piloting the patient agent system,ad-hering to the concept of"shared decision-making",so as to optimize the MDT system design from multi-dimen-sional perspectives to improve the quality of MDT services and benefit more patients.

Objective:To explore the expression and predictive value of serum CD36 level in cardio-vascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to provide a new theoretical basis for clinical iden-tification and prediction of patients at moderate and high cardiovascular risk in RA patients.Methods:Eighty-four RA patients hospitalized to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the second hospital of Lanzhou University in Gansu Province were selected as the study subjects, and 34 healthy people were selected as the controls. All RA patients were divided into low cardiovascular risk groups and medium and high cardiovascular risk groups according to prediction for ASCVD risk in China (China-PAR) cardiovascular risk assessment. At the same time, they were tested for serological indicators at admission. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS)) 26.0 software was used for the statistical data analysis. T-test and nonparametric test were used for comparison of the measurement data. The Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for the comparison of classified data. Variables with P<0.05 in univariate analysis were included into the Logistic regression model. Results:Compared with the healthy control group, the number of patients with medium and high cardiovascular risk in RA[8 cases (23.5)% and 38 cases (45.2)%, χ2=4.80, P=0.029] was significantly higher and was negatively correlated with serum CD36 ( r=-0.27, P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age [ OR(95% CI)=1.654(1.157, 2.365), P=0.006] and diastolic blood pressure [ OR(95% CI)=1.225(1.040, 1.442) , P=0.015] were independent risk factors for medium and high cardiovascular risk in RA patients, and serum CD36 level [ OR(95% CI)=0.569(0.352, 0.922) , P=0.022] was the protective factor of medium and high cardiovascular risk in RA patients according to the results of Logistic regression analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) was 0.691, the cut-off value was 4.27 pg/ml, and the sensitivity and specificity were 89.7% and 41.0% respectively. Conclusion:The serum CD36 level decreases with the increase of cardiovascular risk in RA patients. A higher serum CD36 level is a protective factor of cardiovascular risk in RA patients, and CD36 has a certain predictive value for cardiovascular risk in RA patients and is a potential predictor.