Pelvic organ prolapse (POP), whose etiology is influenced by genetic and clinical risk factors, considerably impacts women's quality of life. However, the genetic underpinnings in non-European populations and comprehensive risk models integrating genetic and clinical factors remain underexplored. This study constructed the first polygenic risk score (PRS) for POP in the Chinese population by utilizing 20 disease-associated variants from the largest existing genome-wide association study. We analyzed a discovery cohort of 576 cases and 623 controls and a validation cohort of 264 cases and 200 controls. Results showed that the case group exhibited a significantly higher PRS than the control group. Moreover, the odds ratio of the top 10% risk group was 2.6 times higher than that of the bottom 10%. A high PRS was significantly correlated with POP occurrence in women older than 50 years old and in those with one or no childbirths. As far as we know, the integrated prediction model, which combined PRS and clinical risk factors, demonstrated better predictive accuracy than other existing PRS models. This combined risk assessment model serves as a robust tool for POP risk prediction and stratification, thereby offering insights into individualized preventive measures and treatment strategies in future clinical practice.
Humans ; Female ; Pelvic Organ Prolapse/epidemiology* ; Middle Aged ; Risk Assessment/methods* ; China/epidemiology* ; Multifactorial Inheritance ; Aged ; Risk Factors ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Case-Control Studies ; Adult ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Genetic Risk Score ; East Asian People

Progressive symmetric erythrokeratodermia(PSEK)is a rare hereditary skin disease charac-terized by symmetrical erythema,hyperkeratosis and multiorgan lesions.Its clinical phenotypes are highly heterogeneous and may be accompanied by symptoms such as thrombocytopenia,which can be fatal in se-vere cases.The genotype-phenotype association mechanism of PSEK is extremely complex.Currently,it is known that mutations in multiple genes such as GJB3,KDSR,and KRT83 can cause the disease.A-mong them,3-ketodihydrosphingosine reductase(KDSR)has been found to harbor nearly 20 clinical mu-tations.These mutations interfere with the de novo ceramide synthesis pathway,disrupt the homeostasis of the skin barrier,and cause platelet production disorders and multi-organ lesions,making it a current research hotspot in the molecular mechanism of PSEK.The pathogenic mutations of KDSR are widely and uniformly distributed throughout the entire protein,rather than being limited to the traditionally recog-nized active center,suggesting that the impairment of the KDSR enzymatic activity is not the only cause of PSEK.In view of this,this study selected four typical mutants of KDSR(KDSRQG55-56R,KDSRn38C,KDSRY186F,KDSRG182S),and first used recombinant expression technology to prepare pure and homoge-neous mutant proteins.Subsequently,thermal stability experiments as well as oligomerization analysis were conducted on these four mutant proteins.The results showed that the Tm values of the four mutants were significantly lower than that of the wild type.Particularly,KDSRF138C and KDSRQG55-56R were nearly completely denatured at physiological temperature.This result was perfectly consistent with the further Rosetta energy analysis.In conclusion,this study took several pathological mutations of the PSEK patho-genic factor KDSR as the research object and discovered that the conformational stability of KDSR might be closely related to the occurrence of PSEK pathogenicity,indicating that the imbalance of conformation-al homeostasis is very likely to be one of the common contributing factors of many genetic diseases,inclu-ding PSEK.This provides a new theoretical basis and reference for explaining the molecular mechanism of genotype-phenotype heterogeneity in many genetic diseases.

To investigate the clinical value of endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture drainage in the treatment for liver abscess and abdominal and pelvic abscess with difficulty in conventional puncture drainage. Data of 12 such patients in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2015 to November 2023 were retrospectivly analyzed. Results showed liver abscess in 4 cases, abdominal and pelvic abscess in 8 cases. All patients had fever with varying degrees of abdominal pain. Twelve patients with liver abscess and abdominal and pelvic abscess received 13 times of endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture (1 patient with a large abdominal and pelvic cyst complicated with infection received transgastric and transrectal puncture of 2 times). The puncture needle was successfully penetrated into the pus cavity. Four patients with liver abscess underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided suction and irrigation, and the abscess was almost completely aspirated. Seven patients with abdominal and pelvic abscess underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided suction and irrigation, of which 5 cases were almost completely aspirated, and 2 cases had poor drainage effect due to the viscous pus (1 case returned to normal temperature after anti-infection treatment; 1 case had recurrent fever after the operation, and septic shock and death occurred 2 weeks after the operation). A patient with recurrent abdominal and pelvic sclerosis after the operation had multiple abscesses in the abdomen and pelvis, and percutaneous CT-guided drainage was performed for abdominal abscess, but the fever was still repeated. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided balloon dilation plus double pig tail and nasobiliary duct drainage were performed. The patient's temperature returned to normal and abdominal pain was relieved 48 hours after the operation. The total effective rate of abscess drainage was 83.3% (10/12), and the effective rate of suction combined with irrigation for abscess drainage was 81.8% (9/11), and no operation-related complications were observed in all patients. After 3 months of follow-up, no recurrence occurred in 10 patients with effective drainage of abscess, and abscess was self-absorbed in 1 patient with pelvic abscess without effective drainage and no recurrence was observed. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture drainage is of certain clinical value for some liver abscesses and abdominal and pelvic abscesses that are difficult to be drained by conventional puncture, and can reduce the secondary trauma caused by surgical operations.

Progressive symmetric erythrokeratodermia(PSEK)is a rare hereditary skin disease charac-terized by symmetrical erythema,hyperkeratosis and multiorgan lesions.Its clinical phenotypes are highly heterogeneous and may be accompanied by symptoms such as thrombocytopenia,which can be fatal in se-vere cases.The genotype-phenotype association mechanism of PSEK is extremely complex.Currently,it is known that mutations in multiple genes such as GJB3,KDSR,and KRT83 can cause the disease.A-mong them,3-ketodihydrosphingosine reductase(KDSR)has been found to harbor nearly 20 clinical mu-tations.These mutations interfere with the de novo ceramide synthesis pathway,disrupt the homeostasis of the skin barrier,and cause platelet production disorders and multi-organ lesions,making it a current research hotspot in the molecular mechanism of PSEK.The pathogenic mutations of KDSR are widely and uniformly distributed throughout the entire protein,rather than being limited to the traditionally recog-nized active center,suggesting that the impairment of the KDSR enzymatic activity is not the only cause of PSEK.In view of this,this study selected four typical mutants of KDSR(KDSRQG55-56R,KDSRn38C,KDSRY186F,KDSRG182S),and first used recombinant expression technology to prepare pure and homoge-neous mutant proteins.Subsequently,thermal stability experiments as well as oligomerization analysis were conducted on these four mutant proteins.The results showed that the Tm values of the four mutants were significantly lower than that of the wild type.Particularly,KDSRF138C and KDSRQG55-56R were nearly completely denatured at physiological temperature.This result was perfectly consistent with the further Rosetta energy analysis.In conclusion,this study took several pathological mutations of the PSEK patho-genic factor KDSR as the research object and discovered that the conformational stability of KDSR might be closely related to the occurrence of PSEK pathogenicity,indicating that the imbalance of conformation-al homeostasis is very likely to be one of the common contributing factors of many genetic diseases,inclu-ding PSEK.This provides a new theoretical basis and reference for explaining the molecular mechanism of genotype-phenotype heterogeneity in many genetic diseases.

To investigate the clinical value of endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture drainage in the treatment for liver abscess and abdominal and pelvic abscess with difficulty in conventional puncture drainage. Data of 12 such patients in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2015 to November 2023 were retrospectivly analyzed. Results showed liver abscess in 4 cases, abdominal and pelvic abscess in 8 cases. All patients had fever with varying degrees of abdominal pain. Twelve patients with liver abscess and abdominal and pelvic abscess received 13 times of endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture (1 patient with a large abdominal and pelvic cyst complicated with infection received transgastric and transrectal puncture of 2 times). The puncture needle was successfully penetrated into the pus cavity. Four patients with liver abscess underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided suction and irrigation, and the abscess was almost completely aspirated. Seven patients with abdominal and pelvic abscess underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided suction and irrigation, of which 5 cases were almost completely aspirated, and 2 cases had poor drainage effect due to the viscous pus (1 case returned to normal temperature after anti-infection treatment; 1 case had recurrent fever after the operation, and septic shock and death occurred 2 weeks after the operation). A patient with recurrent abdominal and pelvic sclerosis after the operation had multiple abscesses in the abdomen and pelvis, and percutaneous CT-guided drainage was performed for abdominal abscess, but the fever was still repeated. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided balloon dilation plus double pig tail and nasobiliary duct drainage were performed. The patient's temperature returned to normal and abdominal pain was relieved 48 hours after the operation. The total effective rate of abscess drainage was 83.3% (10/12), and the effective rate of suction combined with irrigation for abscess drainage was 81.8% (9/11), and no operation-related complications were observed in all patients. After 3 months of follow-up, no recurrence occurred in 10 patients with effective drainage of abscess, and abscess was self-absorbed in 1 patient with pelvic abscess without effective drainage and no recurrence was observed. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided puncture drainage is of certain clinical value for some liver abscesses and abdominal and pelvic abscesses that are difficult to be drained by conventional puncture, and can reduce the secondary trauma caused by surgical operations.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH) is a common disease in middle-aged and elderly men, with lower urinary tract symptoms as the main manifestation, severely affecting the quality of life of patients. The pathogenesis of BPH is not yet fully understood, and there are still some challenges and limitations in western medicine treatment for BPH. Therefore, finding new and more effective treatment strategies is urgent. In recent years, many basic and clinical studies have confirmed the important role of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of BPH. This article reviews the progress of basic and clinical research in the treatment of BPH with traditional Chinese medicine, and believes that basic research mainly focuses on the active ingredients of Chinese medicine [regulating pathways such as NF-E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/antioxidant response element(ARE), nuclear factor κB(NF-κB), epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3), phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p38 MAPK)/forkhead box O subtype(FOXO3a), etc.], single Chinese herbs(regulating inflammatory factors, oxidative stress-related proteins, cell cycle-related proteins, and apoptotic factors, etc.), and Chinese herbal compounds and patent medicines [regulating extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK1/2), transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)/Smad, mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK), PI3K/Akt, Nrf2, trefoil factor 2(TFF2)/Wnt, interleukin-6(IL-6)/Janus kinase 2(JAK2)/STAT3, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α(HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor(VEGFR), etc.], and then play a therapeutic role by inhibiting BPH cell proliferation, oxidative stress, inflammatory response, promoting apoptosis, and inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Clinical studies mainly focus on internal treatment, external treatment, combined internal and external treatment, and integrated Chinese and western medicine treatment as the main methods, aiming to improve traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores, prostate symptom scores, residual urine volume, effective bladder volume, sexual quality of life, increase average urine flow rate, maximum urine flow rate, and promote balance of sex hormone secretion. Through this research, it is hoped to provide some reference ideas for clinical research and drug development for BPH.
Prostatic Hyperplasia/metabolism* ; Male ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Animals ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the combination of chemotherapy with staged Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) therapy could enhance health-related quality of life (QoL) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and prolong the time before deterioration of lung cancer symptoms, in comparison to chemotherapy alone. METHODS: A prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted from December 14, 2017 to August 28, 2020. A total of 180 patients with stage I B-IIIA NSCLC from 5 hospitals in Shanghai were randomly divided into chemotherapy combined with CHM (chemo+CHM) group (120 cases) or chemotherapy combined with placebo (chemo+placebo) group (60 cases) using stratified blocking randomization. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-Life-Core 30 Scale (QLQ-C30) was used to evaluate the patient-reported outcomes (PROs) during postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Adverse events (AEs) were assessed in the safety analysis. RESULTS: Out of the total 180 patients, 173 patients (116 in the chemo+CHM group and 57 in the chemo+placebo group) were included in the PRO analyses. The initial mean QLQ-C30 Global Health Status (GHS)/QoL scores at baseline were 57.16 ± 1.64 and 57.67 ± 2.25 for the two respective groups (P>0.05). Compared with baseline, the chemo+CHM group had an improvement in EORTC QLQ-C30 GHS/QoL score at week 18 [least squares mean (LSM) change 17.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 14.29 to 21.38]. Conversely, the chemo+placebo group had a decrease in the score (LSM change -13.67, 95% CI -22.70 to -4.63). A significant between-group difference in the LSM GHS/QoL score was observed, amounting to 31.63 points (95% CI 25.61 to 37.64, P<0.001). The similar trends were observed in physical functioning, fatigue and appetite loss. At week 18, patients in the chemo+CHM group had a higher proportion of improvement or stabilization in GHS/QoL functional and symptom scores compared to chemo+placebo group (P<0.001). The median time to deterioration was longer in the chemo+CHM group for GHS/QoL score [hazard ratio (HR)=0.33, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.48, P<0.0010], physical functioning (HR=0.43, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.75, P=0.0005), fatigue (HR=0.47, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.72, P<0.0001) and appetite loss (HR=0.65, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.00, P=0.0215). The incidence of AEs was lower in the chemo+CHM group than in the chemo+placebo group (9.83% vs. 15.79%, P=0.52). CONCLUSION The staged CHM therapy could help improve the PROs of postoperative patients with early-stage NSCLC during adjuvant chemotherapy, which is worthy of further clinical research. (Registry No. NCT03372694).
Humans ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/surgery* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology* ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Patient Reported Outcome Measures ; Quality of Life ; Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Prospective Studies

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignant tumor often leading to liver metastasis and mortality. Despite some success with PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy, the response rate for colon cancer patients remains relatively low. This is closely related to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment mediated by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Our previous work identified that a phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) allosteric inhibitor, HKB99, exerts a range of anti-tumor activities in lung cancer. Here, we found that upregulation of PGAM1 correlates with increased levels of M2-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in human colon cancer samples, particularly in liver metastatic tissues. HKB99 suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in cell culture and syngeneic tumor models. M2-polarization, induced by colon cancer cell co-culture, was reversed by HKB99. Conversely, the increased migration of colon cancer cells by M2-TAMs was remarkably restrained by HKB99. Notably, a decrease in TAM infiltration was required for the HKB99-mediated anti-tumor effect, along with an increase in CD8⁺ T cell infiltration. Moreover, HKB99 improved the efficacy of anti-PD-1 treatment in syngeneic tumors. Overall, this study highlights HKB99's inhibitory activity in TAM-mediated colon cancer progression. Targeting PGAM1 could lead to novel therapeutic strategies and enhance the effectiveness of existing immunotherapies for colon cancer.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of modified Baduanjin exercise, as an rehabilitation exercise, on cardiopulmonary function, motor function and activities of daily living in patients with stroke. MethodsFrom January to September, 2023, 42 stroke patients in the Nanjing Qixia District Hospital were randomly divided into control group (n = 21) and experimental group (n = 21). The control group received routine rehabilitation, and the experimental group received modified Baduanjin exercise in addition, for four weeks. They were assessed with peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak), anaerobic threshold (AT), peak oxygen pulse (VO_2peak/HR), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), peak expiratory flow (PEF), Fugl-Meyer Assessment-upper extremities (FMA-UE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) before and after intervention. ResultsVO_2peak, AT, and the scores of FMA-UE, BBS and MBI improved in the control group after intervention (|t| > 2.256, |Z| > 2.936, P < 0.05); while VO_2peak, AT, VO_2peak/HR, FVC, FEV₁, PEF, and the scores of FMA-UE, BBS and MBI improved in the experimental group (|t| > 4.390, |Z| > 3.451, P < 0.001); and all the indexes were better in the experimental group than in the control group (|t| > 4.136，|Z| > 2.751，P < 0.01), except the scores of BBS and MBI. ConclusionModified Baduanjin exercise can improve the cardiopulmonary function and upper limb motor function for stroke patients.