Objective To explore the efficacy of the self-formulated Zhuzhang Formula in trea-ting the spleen deficiency with dysfunction of transportation syndrome of idiopathic short stature(ISS)and its effects on the growth rate,disease-related indicators,and bone metabolism indicators in affect-ed children.Methods A total of 80 children with ISS were enrolled as study subjects.They were randomly assigned to control group and observation group using random number table method,with 40 cases in each group.The control group received conventional western medicine treatment,while the observation group was administered self-formulated Zhuzhang Formula in addition to the treatment of the control group.Comparisons were made between the two groups in terms of clinical efficacy,TCM syndrome scores,growth parameters(monthly average height increment,annual growth rate),levels of disease-related indicators[serum insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1),bone morphogenetic pro-tein-2(BMP-2),insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3)],levels of bone metabo-lism indicators[bone alkaline phosphatase(BAP),type Ⅰ procollagen N-terminal propeptide(PⅠNP),type Ⅰ collagen cross-linked C-terminal telopeptide(β-CTX)],and the incidence of adverse reac-tions.Results The overall effective rate in the observation group was 97.50％,which was significantly higher than the 80.00％ in the control group(P＜0.05).After 3 and 6 months of intervention,the scores for symptoms such as short stature,sallow complexion,loss of appetite,weak voice and shortness of breath,limb weakness,and loose stools,as well as the total TCM syndrome scores,were lower in the observation group than those in the control group,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).After 6 months of intervention,the monthly average height increment and annual growth rate were higher in the observation group than those in the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).After 3 and 6 months of intervention,the levels of IGF-1,BMP-2,IGFBP-3,BAP,and PⅠNP were higher in the observation group than those in the control group,while the level of β-CTX was lower,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion The self-formulated Zhuchang Formula demon-strates remarkable efficacy in treating the spleen deficiency with dysfunction of transportation syndrome of ISS.It can alleviate clinical symptoms by regulating the levels of IGF-1,BMP-2,IGFBP-3,and bone metabolism indicators,thereby promoting the growth and development of affected children,and exhibits high safety.

Objective To analyze the effects of massage therapy on the inflammatory state and lung function of pediatric refractory Mycoplasma pneumonia (RMPP). Methods A total of 320 children with RMPP treated in Hebei Seventh People′s Hospital from September 2022 to August 2023 were selected in the study. According to different treatment methods, they were divided into two groups, with 160 cases in each group. The western medicine group was given conventional anti-inflammatory and other symptomatic treatment, while the massage group was given dialectical massage treatment based on the western medicine group. The clinical efficacy, duration of disappearance of clinical symptoms, pulmonary function indexes, serum inflammatory factors, immune function indexes and total incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of massage group was higher than that of control group (P < 0.05). The disappearance time of fever, cough, sputum and lung moist rales in observation group was shorter than that in control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in the massage group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the massage group were lower than those in the control group after treatment (P < 0.05). After treatment, CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD4⁺/CD8⁺ in the massage group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and CD8⁺ was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). There was nosignificant difference in the total incidence of adverse reactions between the massage group and the western medicine group (P>0.05). Conclusion Massage based on syndrome differentiation combined with western medicine can effectively relieve fever, cough and other symptoms of RMPP children, reduce inflammatory response, improve lung function and immune function, and has less adverse reactions.

BACKGROUND: As one of the early discovered long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), taurine upregulation gene 1 ( TUG1 ) has been widely expressed in a variety of tumors. Moreover, it promotes cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and migration. However, our understanding of its importance in the pathogenesis of cataracts remains limited. This study aimed to explore the mechanism by which lncRNA TUG1 mediates lens epithelial cell apoptosis in age-related cataracts (ARC) by regulating the microRNAs (miR-29b)/second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases axis, and to identify more non-surgical strategies for cataract treatment. METHODS: The messenger RNA expression levels of TUG1 , miR-29b, and Smac were detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in vivo and in vitro . The expression of the Smac protein was analyzed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. Flow cytometry and cell counting kit-8 assays were used to detect the cell apoptosis and proliferation rates, respectively. The targeted regulatory relationship between lncRNA TUG1 , miR-29b, and Smac was verified by viral vector construction, co-transfection, nuclear and cytoplasmic separation, luciferase reporter assays, and RNA immunoprecipitation. RESULTS: TUG1 and Smac were expressed at high levels in ARC and HLE-B3 cells treated with 200 μmol/L H 2 O 2 , whereas miR-29b expression was decreased. In vitro cell experiments confirmed that down-regulation of TUG1 could inhibit the apoptosis of lens epithelial cells. Mechanistically, Smac expression was negatively regulated by miR-29b. TUG1 competitively inhibited miR-29b expression and caused greater release of Smac. In addition, miR-29b partially reversed the effects of TUG1 on human lens epithelial cell line cells. CONCLUSIONS lncRNA TUG1 increases Smac expression and promotes apoptosis of lens epithelial cells in ARC by competitively inhibiting miR-29b. This mechanism is the cytological basis for ARC formation. Based on these results, the lncRNA TUG1/miR29b/Smac axis may be a new molecular pathway that regulates ARC development.

BACKGROUND: Low-density computed tomography (LDCT) improved early lung cancer diagnosis but introduces an excess of false-positive pulmonary nodules data. Hence, accurate diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer remains challenging. The purpose of the study was to assess the feasibility of using circulating tumour cells (CTCs) to differentiate malignant from benign pulmonary nodules. METHODS: 122 patients with suspected malignant pulmonary nodules detected on chest CT in preparation for surgery were prospectively recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected before surgery, and CTCs were identified upon isolation by size of epithelial tumour cells and morphological analysis. Laser capture microdissection, MALBAC amplification, and whole-exome sequencing were performed on 8 samples. The diagnostic efficacy of CTCs counting, and the genomic variation profile of benign and malignant CTCs samples were analysed. RESULTS: Using 2.5 cells/5 mL as the cut-off value, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was of 0.651 (95% confidence interval: 0.538-0.764), with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.526 and 0.800, respectively, and positive and negative predictive values of 91.1% and 30.3%, respectively. Distinct sequence variations differences in DNA damage repair-related and driver genes were observed in benign and malignant samples. TP53 mutations were identified in CTCs of four malignant cases; in particular, g.7578115T>C, g.7578645C>T, and g.7579472G>C were exclusively detected in all four malignant samples. CONCLUSIONS CTCs play an ancillary role in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules. TP53 mutations in CTCs might be used to identify benign and malignant pulmonary nodules.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Exome Sequencing ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules ; Carcinoma ; DNA Repair

Objective:To investigate the specificity and sensitivity of four methods including ultrafastreal-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time fluorescence (RT)-PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and gold immunochromatography assay (GICA) for the detection of novel Bunya virus, so as to provide experimental basis for the early diagnosis of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS).Methods:Serum samples from 86 clinically diagnosis SFTS patients admitted to the Jinan Infectious Diseases Hospital Affiliated to Shandoug University were tested by ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR, RT-PCR, ELISA and GICA during June 1 to September 30, 2017. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.Results:Among 86 serum samples, the positive rate of novel Bunya virus of ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR, RT-PCR, IgM-ELISA, IgG-ELISA, IgM-GICA and IgG-GICA were 82(95.34%), 79(91.86%), 41(47.67%), 8(9.3%), 19(22.09%) and 3(3.49%), respectively. The specificity of ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR was 100%, and the sensitivity was 1×10 3 copies/mL.Repeated amplification test showed that the variation coefficient of the computed tomography value was <2%.During phases one, two and three, the positive rates of ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR were 41(97.62%), 34(94.44%) and 7(87.50%), and RT-PCR were 39(92.86%), 33(91.67%) and 7(87.50%), respectively. During phases one and two, the positive rate of ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR was slightly higher. The positive rate of anti-novel Bunya virus antibody (IgM) tested by ELISA had a significant increase from phase one (28.57%)to phase three (87.50%). There were statistical differences between phase two and phase, as well as between phase three and phase one ( χ2=8.347 and 7.561, respectively, both P<0.01). IgM-GICA also had an increase from phase one (14.29%) to phase two (33.33%)( χ2=3.962, P<0.01), while it was still lower than the other tests.In phase one, the positive rate of RT-PCR was higher than those of ELISA(both IgM and IgG)and GICA(both IgM and IgG)( χ2=33.740, 55.080, 49.010 and 64.340, respectively, all P<0.01). In phase two, the positive rate of RT-PCR was higher than those of ELISA(both IgM and IgG)and GICA(both IgM and IgG) ( χ2=7.700, 46.720, 23.700 and 50.630, respectively, all P<0.01). In phase three, the positive rates of ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR, RT-PCR and IgM-ELISA were equivalent, which were all higher than those of IgG-ELISA and GICA (both IgM and IgG). The positive rates of RT-PCR and IgG-ELISA, IgM-GICA and IgG-GICA were significantly different (all χ2=6.250, all P<0.05). Conclusion:In the early detection of novel Bunya virus, ultrafast real-time fluorescence PCR has higher sensitivity, specificity, good repeatability and high stability, which greatly reduces the amplification time compared with the traditional RT-PCR, and is of great value in the early and rapid diagnosis of SFTS.

Objective To explore the effects of detail nursing in septic shock patients. Methods From January 2017 to June 2018, we selected 70 septic shock patients at West China Hospital of Sichuan University by convenience sampling. All patients were divided into control group (n=35) and observation group (n=35) with the method of random number table. Control group carried out routine nursing. On the basis of that in control group, observation group implemented detail nursing for two weeks. We compared the clinical effects, hemodynamics, health condition and the score of Glasgow coma scale (GCS) of patients between two groups before and after intervention. Results The effective rate of treatment of septic shock patients in observation group was 88.57％ higher than that (65.71％) in control group with a statistical difference (P < 0.05). The hospitalization time, time using ventilator, time of consciousness recovery, disappearance time of symptoms and signs of observation group were shorter than those of control group; the serum C-reactive protein of observation group was lower than that of control group; the differences were all statistical (P<0.01). After intervention, the cardiac index, mean arterial pressure, venous oxygen saturation of patients in observation group were higher than those in control group; the heart rate of patients in observation group was lower than that in control group; the differences were all statistical (P < 0.05). After intervention, the score of health condition of patients in observation group was lower than that in control group; the score of GCS of patients was higher than that in control group;the differences were all statistical (P < 0.05). Conclusions Detail nursing for septic shock patients can improve the quality of life of patients and has a little influence on hemodynamics which is worthy of clinical generalization and application.

Objective To explore chromobox protein homolog 2 (CBX2) expressions in relation to clinical features of patients and elucidate its role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database,R language was used to analyze the distribution of differentially expressed mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma.The different expression of CBX2 in HCC and adjacent tissues and its relationship with survival and clinical characteristics of patients were further analyzed.The expression of CBX2 in liver tissues,liver cancer tissue,and L02,HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines was detected by real time-PCR and western blot.The expression of CBX2 was interfered by siRNA in hepatoma cell line.MTT,colony formation,transwell assays,and flow cytometry were used to identify the proliferation,apoptosis,invasion and clone-formation ability of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells after CBX2 down-regulation.According to the different data,t-test,ANOVA,chi-square test,and COX regression model were used for statistical analysis.Survival curve was plotted through Kaplan-Meier method.Results TCGA public database analysis showed that the expression of CBX2 mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues (7.296 ± 1.6115) was significantly higher than normal liver tissues (4.706 ± 0.940) (P =0.000).In addition,the overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 mRNA expression was significantly longer than that of patients with high CBX2 mRNA expression [(5.971 ± 0.411) years vs.(4.650 ± 0.503) years,P =0.001].The expression level of CBX2 mRNA was correlated with the pathological TNM stage (P =0.025) and differentiation degree (P ＜ 0.001) of liver cancer.COX regression analysis showed that CBX2 mRNA expression was an independent predictor of patient survival (P =0.013).siRNA was transfected and compared with the blank control group.The transgenic ability of HepG2 and SMMC-77221 cells decreased significantly at 72h (P ＜ 0.05) and 96h (P ＜ 0.05),and the apoptosis rate (11.430％ ± 0.215％) was higher than blank control group (6.6 00％ ± 0.170％) (P =0.003).The number of invasive cells ((both P ＜ 0.05) and relative colony forming cells ((both P ＜ 0.001) were significantly decreased.In 20 cases of tissue samples,the expression of CBX2 protein (relative expression level 3.020 ±0.269) in liver cancer was higher than that in adjacent tissues (relative expression level 0.886±0.065) (P ＜ 0.001).The overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 expression in liver cancer was longer than that of patients with high expression [(3.670 + 0.576) years vs.(0.834 + 0.153) years,P =0.004].Conclusion An evident high expression of CBX2 is an independent poor prognostic factor in hepatoma.Down-regulation of CBX2 expression can inhibit the progression of liver cancer.Therefore,CBX2 may be a prognostic biomarker and a new target for HCC treatment.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a kind of occult central neurodegenerative disease. The incidence of AD is gradually increased in aged societies. The etiological mechanism of AD is not clear and may be influenced by environmental or genetic factors. At present, clinical diagnosis of AD mainly relies on the measurement of cognitive function scale and the collection of medical history; the main biomarkers used for AD diagnosis are scaffold amyloid protein and Tau protein in the cerebrospinal fluid. In this review, some biomarkers which are helpful for early diagnosis of AD at home and abroad are described.

Objective To investigate the role of large-diameter magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulation in target volume delineation in radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods Eighteen patients with NPC underwent computed tomography (CT) simulation and MRI simulation scans and localization in the same body position,with SOMATOM Sensation Open 40-row 82-cm large-diameter CT simulator and Siemens 3T MRI MAGNETOM Skyra 70-cm large-diameter simulator,respectively.The gross tumor volume (GTV) and parotid glands were delineated on all images according to the ICRU Report 50/62,and MRI was applied to observe the changes in GTV and parotid volume during radiotherapy.Paired t-test was applied to analyze the differences between GTVCT and GTVMRI and between GTVnx-CT and GTVnx-MRI.Results GTVMRI decreased significantly compared with GTVCT,and the average volume decreased from (213.64±84.59) cm3 to (199.68±84.69) cm3(p=0.006).As for the volume of primary lesions in the nasopharynx,GTVnx-MRI was significantly smaller than GTVnx-CT,and the volume decreased from (95.75± 24.76) cm3 to (88.12±26.25) cm3 (P =0.001);as for the volume of cervical lymph nodes,GTVnd-MRI was significantly smaller than GTVnd-CT,and the volume decreased from (117.89± 72.69) cm3 to (111.56± 70.69) cm3 (P=0.018).The targets delineated by CT and MRI did not overlap completely,with major differences in skull base bone and cervical soft tissue.The volume of both parotid glands delineated on MRI image was higher than that delineated on CT image,with a major difference in the deep lobe.MRI showed that GTV was reduced by 82.64± 16.87％ during radiotherapy,and the volumes of the left and right parotid glands were reduced by (32.7± 23.95) ％ and (34.7± 21.72) ％,respectively.Conclusions The delineation of target volume based on MRI simulation is more accurate than that based on CT simulation and can achieve a smaller volume range,which helps to guide target volume delineation in radiotherapy for NPC accurately.

Objective To compare and analyze MRI characteristics of medical patellofemoral ligament(MPFL) injury patterns in adolescents and adults after acute lateral patellar dislocation.Methods MR images of 42 adolescents and 45 adults after acute lateral patellar dislocation were retrospectively reviewed.Routine MR scanning was performed in axial,sagittal and coronal planes,including T1 WI,T2 WI and fat saturation sequence.The x2-tests were performed to analyze the MPFL injury patterns between adolescent group and adult group.Results The prevalence rate of MPFL injury was 97.6％ (41/42) in adolescent group after acute lateral patellar dislocation,including 57.1％ (24/42) of complete tear and 40.5％ (17/42) of partial tear.The prevalence rate of MPFL injury was 100.0％ (45/45) in adult group,including 64.4％ (29/45) of complete tear and 35.6％ (16/45) of partial tear.There were no statistical difference between adolescents and adults in prevalence rate of MPFL injury,complete MPFL tear,partial MPFL tear (x2 =1.084,0.486,0.223 ; P ＞ 0.05).The prevalence rate of MPFL injury at femoral attachment,patellar attachment and midsubstance were 31.0％ (13/42),78.6％ (33/42) and 26.2％ (11/42) respectively in adolescent group,whereas they were 64.4％ (29/45),40.0％ (18/45) and 15.6％ (7/45) respectively in adult group.It occurred at multiple sites in 33.3％ (14/42) of adolescents,and in 15.6％ (7/45) of adults.There were significant differences between adolescents and adults in the prevalence rate of MPFL tear at femoral attachments and patellar attachments (x2 =9.759,13.324 ; P ＜ 0.05),but there was no statistical difference at its midsubstance (x2 =1.497,P ＞ 0.05).Although not statistically significant (x2 =3.749,P ＞ 0.05),MPFL tear at multiple locations were seen more in adolescents than in adults (33.3％ vs.15.6％).Conclusion The injury degree and distribution of MPFL are similar in adolescents and adults after acute lateral patellar dislocation,but there is significant difference in the site of MPFL injury distribution between adolescents and adults.MPFL is most easily injured at femoral attachment,secondly at patellar attachment in adults,while MPFL is most easily injured at patellar attachment,secondly at femoral attachment in adolescents.Adolescents are more likely to have multiple-site MPFL injury than adults.