Digestive system tumors account for more than half of all malignant tumors in terms of incidence and mortality,and thus pose a serious threat to human health.Haptoglobin(Hp)is an acute-phase glycoprotein that is elevated in both plasma and tumor tissues in various clinical conditions,including different types of cancer,such as liver,gastric,colorectal,pancreatic,and gallbladder cancer.Numerous studies have indicated that Hp plays a significant role in the prognosis of cancer patients,highlighting its potential as a prognostic marker for gastrointestinal tumors,with important clinical applications.Despite its demonstrated crucial role in the development of various tumors,however,the specific mechanisms of Hp in gastrointestinal tumors remain controversial.This review considers the differential expression and clinical significance of Hp in the five major types of gastrointestinal tumors,to explore its role in different stages of cancer progression and prognosis.This review thus aims to provide reliable and accurate serum biomarkers for the screening,early diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis monitoring of gastrointestinal tumors,with important implications for predicting the survival and prognosis of cancer patients.

Digestive system tumors account for more than half of all malignant tumors in terms of incidence and mortality,and thus pose a serious threat to human health.Haptoglobin(Hp)is an acute-phase glycoprotein that is elevated in both plasma and tumor tissues in various clinical conditions,including different types of cancer,such as liver,gastric,colorectal,pancreatic,and gallbladder cancer.Numerous studies have indicated that Hp plays a significant role in the prognosis of cancer patients,highlighting its potential as a prognostic marker for gastrointestinal tumors,with important clinical applications.Despite its demonstrated crucial role in the development of various tumors,however,the specific mechanisms of Hp in gastrointestinal tumors remain controversial.This review considers the differential expression and clinical significance of Hp in the five major types of gastrointestinal tumors,to explore its role in different stages of cancer progression and prognosis.This review thus aims to provide reliable and accurate serum biomarkers for the screening,early diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis monitoring of gastrointestinal tumors,with important implications for predicting the survival and prognosis of cancer patients.

[Objective] To explore the key factors affecting the efficiency and safety of hematopoietic stem cell apheresis. [Methods] The clinical data of 59 healthy donors who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell donation in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2021 to June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. The number of CD34⁺ cells was used to evaluate the eligibility of stem cell collection. The effects of donor gender, age, patient weight, as well as the number of WBC, MNC, RBC, Hb, HCT, PLT, CD34⁺ cells, CD34⁺ percentage and instrument operating parameters on collection efficiency were analyzed. [Results] A total of 59 donors were enrolled, and 68 occasions of stem cell apheresis were performed, with a qualified collection rate of 56%. Donor gender, age, patient weight, total blood circulation volume, anticoagulant dosage, collection time, calcium gluconate dosage and RBC, Hb, HCT levels were not significantly correlated with the collection effect (P>0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the number of MNC cells, CD34⁺ cells and stem cell product volume were the key factors affecting the efficiency and safety. A total of 12 donors had mild adverse reactions during the collection process, and all of them were improved after treatment. [Conclusion] Optimizing apheresis strategy based on the three factors of MNC, WBC count and stem cell product volume on the day of collection will help to achieve high-quality collection and improve the success rate of transplantation.

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) represent a promising class of drugs that can target disease-causing proteins more effectively than traditional small molecule inhibitors can, potentially revolutionizing drug discovery and treatment strategies. However, the links between in vitro and in vivo data are poorly understood, hindering a comprehensive understanding of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of PROTACs. In this work, ¹⁴C-labeled vepdegestrant (ARV-471), which is currently in phase III clinical trials for breast cancer, was synthesized as a model PROTAC to characterize its preclinical ADME properties and simulate its clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) by establishing a physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) model. For in vitro-in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE), hepatocyte clearance correlated more closely with in vivo rat PK data than liver microsomal clearance did. PBPK models, which were initially developed and validated in rats, accurately simulate ARV-471's PK across fed and fasted states, with parameters within 1.75-fold of the observed values. Human models, informed by in vitro ADME data, closely mirrored postoral dose plasma profiles at 30 mg. Furthermore, no human-specific metabolites were identified in vitro and the metabolic profile of rats could overlap that of humans. This work presents a roadmap for developing future PROTAC medications by elucidating the correlation between in vitro and in vivo characteristics.

Objective:To investigate the effect of polystyrene microplastics(PS-MPs)combined with high-fat treatment on vascular endothelial cells.Methods:Human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs)were cultured in the DMEM medium containing 5%fe-tal bovine serum.HUVECs were treated with conventional culture,high-fat treatment,and PS-MPs combined with high-fat treatment.The experiment was conducted in the three groups of control group,high-fat treatment group and PS-MPs+high-fat treatment group.CCK-8 assay was used to measure cell viability,F-actin staining was used to observe cell morphological changes,and flow cytometry,scratch assay,and tube formation assay were used to measure the apoptosis,migration,and tube-forming ability of cells.Results:After HUVECs were exposed to the high-fat environment,there was a significant reduction in cell viability,shrinkage of cells,a signifi-cant increase in cell apoptosis,and significant reductions in cell migration and tube-forming ability.Compared with the high-fat treat-ment group,there were no significant changes in cell viability,cell morphology,cell apoptosis,and cell migration ability after PS-MPs combined with high-fat treatment,but the tube-forming ability of cells was further impaired.Conclusion:High-fat treatment will affect cell viability,change cell morphology,and damage vascular endothelial cell function,and PS-MPs combined with high-fat treat-ment can aggravate the damage of vascular endothelial cell function.

Objective:To investigate the influence and mechanisms of metformin on the proliferation and apoptosis of human keloid fibroblasts (Fbs).Methods:This study was an experimental research. The keloid tissue was collected from 7 keloid patients (2 males and 5 females, aged 20-65 years, with a disease course of more than 1 year) who underwent keloid excision surgery at the Department of Plastic, Cosmetic and Maxillofacial Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from September 2020 to September 2023. The primary Fbs were isolated and cultured, and cells from passages 3 to 6 were used for experiments. The cells were divided into control group and metformin group, and were cultured in complete medium. The medium for metformin group was supplemented with metformin at a final molarity of 60 mmol/L. The cell counting kit-8 was used to assess the proliferation activity of cells in two groups after 12 and 24 hours of culture, and the proliferation inhibition rate of cells in metformin group after 12 and 24 hours of culture was calculated, with a sample size of 6. The apoptosis detection kit was used to detect the apoptotic distribution of cells in control group after 0 hour (immediately) of culture and in metformin group after 12 and 24 hours of culture, with a sample size of 3. The cell cycle detection kit was used to detect the cycle distribution of cells in two groups after 12 and 24 hours of culture, with a sample size of 3. The eukaryotic mRNA sequencing was performed on suitable number of cells of two groups after 24 hours of culture, and the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes functional annotation analysis and functional enrichment analysis were performed after screening for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with significantly differential expression between two groups. Western blotting was conducted to detect the protein expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt), and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) in the PI3K/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway of cells in two groups after 24 hours of culture, with a sample size of 3.Results:After 12 and 24 hours of culture, the proliferation activity of cells in metformin group was significantly lower than that in control group (with t values of 4.70 and 24.02, respectively, P<0.05); the proliferation activity of cells in metformin group after 24 hours of culture was significantly lower than that after 12 hours of culture within the group ( t=4.73, P<0.05). Compared with that after 12 hours of culture within the group, the proliferation inhibition rate of cells in metformin group was significantly increased after 24 hours of culture ( t=5.29, P<0.05). Compared with that in control group after 0 hour of culture, the proportion of early apoptotic cells in metformin group was significantly increased (with t values of 6.62 and 4.58, respectively, P<0.05), and the proportion of early and late apoptotic cells was significantly increased after 12 and 24 hours of culture (with t values of 4.84 and 3.75, respectively, P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, the proportion of late apoptotic cells in metformin group was significantly higher than that after 12 hours of culture within the group ( t=4.55, P<0.05). After 12 hours of culture, the proportion of S-phase cells in metformin group was significantly lower than that in control group ( t=5.90, P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, compared with that in control group, the proportion of G0/G1-phase cells in metformin group was significantly increased ( t=5.36, P<0.05), while the proportion of G2/M-phase cells was significantly decreased ( t=17.63, P<0.05). The proportion of S-phase cells in metformin group after 24 hours of culture was significantly higher than that after 12 hours of culture within the group ( t=7.60, P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, 4 814 DEGs with significantly differential expression were detected in the cells of metformin group compared with control group. The significantly upregulated and downregulated DEGs were mainly involved in biological functions related to signal transduction, cell growth and death, transport and catabolism, the endocrine system, the immune system, and cancer. The pathways that were significantly enriched with DEGs with significantly differential expression included the cell cycle and DNA replication, with the highest number of genes in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. After 24 hours of culture, the protein expressions of PI3K, p-Akt, and p-mTOR of cells in metformin group were 0.190±0.017, 0.170±0.017, and 0.247±0.005, respectively, which were significantly lower than 0.440±0.026, 0.300±0.060, and 0.547±0.025 in control group (with t values of 13.69, 3.61, and 20.12, respectively, P values all <0.05). Conclusions:Metformin can significantly inhibit the proliferation of human keloid Fbs through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and effectively induce its apoptotic process, thereby exerting antifibrotic effects.

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)represent a promising class of drugs that can target disease-causing proteins more effectively than traditional small molecule inhibitors can,potentially revolu-tionizing drug discovery and treatment strategies.However,the links between in vitro and in vivo data are poorly understood,hindering a comprehensive understanding of the absorption,distribution,metabolism,and excretion(ADME)of PROTACs.In this work,14C-labeled vepdegestrant(ARV-471),which is currently in phase Ⅲ clinical trials for breast cancer,was synthesized as a model PROTAC to characterize its preclinical ADME properties and simulate its clinical pharmacokinetics(PK)by estab-lishing a physiologically based pharmacokinetics(PBPK)model.For in vitro-in vivo extrapolation(IVIVE),hepatocyte clearance correlated more closely with in vivo rat PK data than liver microsomal clearance did.PBPK models,which were initially developed and validated in rats,accurately simulate ARV-471's PK across fed and fasted states,with parameters within 1.75-fold of the observed values.Human models,informed by in vitro ADME data,closely mirrored postoral dose plasma profiles at 30 mg.Furthermore,no human-specific metabolites were identified in vitro and the metabolic profile of rats could overlap that of humans.This work presents a roadmap for developing future PROTAC medications by elucidating the correlation between in vitro and in vivo characteristics.

OBJECTIVE To preliminarily assess the horizontal sound localization and its influencing factors in patients with unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss during the acute phase.METHODS The azimuth discrimination test and azimuth identification test were completed,with the speech sound(65 dB SPL)as the stimulus.The minimum audible angle(MAA)and root-mean-square error(RMSE)were obtained,and the RMSE of the affected side and the healthy side were calculated respectively.According to the WHO(2021)hearing loss classification criteria,the data were analyzed based on the pure-tone average(PTA)of the affected ear.And the best resident hearing at each frequency of the affected ear was recorded.RESULTS The performance of the unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients in the sound localization varied greatly.Some performed close to the normal level,while others completely lost the ability to localize sound.The RMSE of the moderate hearing loss group(≥35 dB HL)was significantly higher than that of the normal hearing group(P<0.01),the MAA of the moderate to severe hearing loss group(≥50 dB HL)showed statistically significant differencescompared with normal hearing group(P<0.001).The RMSE of the affected side of patients in the severe and above hearing loss group was significantly larger than that of the healthy side.Regression analysis showed that the best resident hearing at each frequency of the affected ear was the most significant factor affecting MAA(R2=0.572,P<0.001)and RMSE(R2=0.768,P<0.001).CONCLUSION The horizontal sound localization of unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients in the acute phase varies greatly.When the PTA of the affected side reaches moderate hearing loss,the localization ability is significantly lower than that of normal-hearing individuals.The best resident hearing at each frequency of the affected ear is the key factor affecting the localization ability.

OBJECTIVE Aimd to investigate the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction among healthy elderly individuals in China using a large sample size and to explore its correlations with demographic and other factors.METHODS A total of 5 258 participants who aged 60 and above underwent the T&T olfactometer test and completed questionnaires.The prevalence of olfactory dysfunction was reported,and logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between olfactory dysfunction and other factors.RESULTS The overall prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in the study was 26.5%.Independent risk factors for olfactory dysfunction included advanced age,rural residence(OR=1.88,95%CI:1.60-2.22,P<0.01),current smoking(OR=1.45,95%CI:1.15-1.83,P<0.01),and self-reported olfactory dysfunction(OR=10.12,95%CI:8.44-12.14,P<0.01).In contrast,female gender(OR=0.70,95%CI:0.58-0.85,P<0.01)and high educational attainment were independently associated with a lower prevalence of olfactory dysfunction.CONCLUSION The prevalence of olfactory dysfunction among individuals aged 60 and above increased with age.Male gender,rural residence,low educational attainment,current smoking,and self-reported decline in olfactory function were independently associated with olfactory dysfunction.

Objective:This study aimed to propose an innovative modular surgical technique and explore its safety and application value in laparoscopic total gastrectomy combined with spleen-preserving hilar lymphadenectomy for advanced proximal gastric cancer invading the greater curvature.Methods:A retrospective collection was conducted on 34 patients with proximal gastric cancer invading the greater curvature who underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy combined with spleen-preserving hilar lymphadenectomy in the same center from October 2020 to December 2022. The technical key points, precautions and crucial steps of the modular surgical technique were summarized, and the Clinical indicators were analyzed.Results:All 34 patients successfully completed the operation under laparoscopy without conversion to open surgery. The average operation duration was 151.9±4.1 minutes, and the duration of splenic hilar lymphadenectomy was 12.9±1.5 minutes. The median intraoperative blood loss was 50(20, 50) ml, and the blood loss during splenic hilar lymphadenectomy was 5 (2, 5) ml. The median number of harvested lymph nodes was 32.0 (23.5,39.5), and the number of submitted No.10 lymph nodes was 3 (2, 4). The metastasis rate of No.10 lymph nodes was 20.6% (7/34). No patient had intraoperative complications. During the postoperative hospital stay, one patient had incision infection (Clavien-Dindo I), and one patient had pulmonary infection (Clavien-Dindo II). The time for the first postoperative feeding was 3 (2, 5) days, the time for the first postoperative flatus was 2 (2,3) days, the time for the first postoperative defecation was 3 (3, 4) days, the total postoperative drainage volume was 1047.5 (607.5,1397.5) mL, the time for postoperative drainage tube removal was 7 (6, 9) days, and the length of postoperative hospital stay was 7.0 (6.0, 9.5) days.Conclusions:The application of the innovative modular surgical technique in laparoscopic total gastrectomy combined with spleen-preserving hilar lymphadenectomy can simplify surgical process and enable safe, precise and comprehensive dissection of splenic hilar lymph nodes.